IRLF 


K9H 


University  of  California. 

FROM    T1IK    I.IIiKARY    <.>K 

DR.    FRANCIS     LIEBER, 

Professor  of  History  and  Law  in  Columbia  College,  .Now  Yorl  . 


THI:  GIFT  OF 


MICHAEL     REESE 

Of  San  Praiicisco. 
i  8  7  3  . 


• 


AIT 
INaUIRY 

INTO  THE 

CHARACTER  AND  TENDENCY 

OP  TUB. 

AMERICAN   COLONIZATION,, 

AND 

AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY 
SOCIETIES. 


BY   WILLIAM   JAY. 

_iJ|  ;,»  »nr 


"Give  me  the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue  freely,  according 
to  my  conscience,  above  all  liberties."— MILTON. 


FOURTH  EDITION. 


NEW    YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  R.  G.  WILLIAMS, 

FOR  THE  AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY, 

143     NASSAU    STREET. 

1837. 


fF  fintered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1835,  bj 
tViLLUM  JAY,  i*  rt«  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


CONTENTS. 

PART  I. 

AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 
Introduction  ---.---.------    PAGE    7 

CHAPTER  I. 

Origin,  Constitution,  and  Character  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society. .14 

CHAPTER  II. 

Influence  of  the  Society  on  the  condition  of  Free  Per 
sons  of  Color. --17 

CHAPTER  III. 

Influence  of  the  Society  on  Africa — Suppression  of 
the  Slave  Trade.      -    -     -    .-    .-     -     -    -    -----    £5 

• 

CHAPTER  IV: 

Influence  of  the  Society  on  Africa — Diffusion  of  Civili 
zation  and  Christianity.      ---------    61 

CHAPTER  -V. 
Influence  of  the  Society  on  Slavery.  -----,-    73 


PART  II. 
AMERICAN   ANTI-SLAVERY   SOCIETY. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Principles  of  the  Society — Character  of  American 

Slavery. 12(7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Proposed  Objects  and  Measures  of  the  Society — Cen 
sure  of  Abolitionists. -    -     -     -      Jj[ 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Fanaticism  of  Abolitionists. 145 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Incendiarism  and  Treason  of  Abolitionists.   -    -    -    ,   149 

•"71003    ^~>l^  LJOO    VtAOlJiaMjfx 

CHAPTER  V. 

Slavery  under  the  authority  of  Congress.  .-    - . . .  * ; ,  *  ? . .    154 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Slavery  under  State  authority.     -------       162 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Safety  of  Immediate  Emancipation. 168 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Emancipation  in  St.  Domingo  and  Gaudaloupe,  and 

present  state  of  St.  Domingo.  -------       171 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Emancipation  in  the  British  West  Indies.  -    -    -    -       187 

CHAPTER  X. 
Gradual  and  Immediate  Emancipation.     -    -.^  .'.^:.    192 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Danger  of  Continued  Slavery.     .... 


v  A.. i  a -i  T  71  A 


PREFACE 


No  allusion  has  been  made,  in  the  following  pages,  to 
certain  popular  objections  to  the  Colonization  Society ; 
rtor  have  any  cases  of  individual  cruelty  been  cited,  -to 
illustrate  the  evils  of  slavery.  It  is  proper,  that  the  rea 
sons  for  this  departure  from  the  ordinary  mode  of  discus 
sing  these  two  subjects,  should  be  given,  that  theyt?may 
not  be  misunderstood- 

The  objections  I  have  .omitted  to  notice,,-  are,  the  mor 
tality  ;to  which  the  emigrants  are  exposed, ,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  climate  of  Liberia  ;  the  demoralizing  traf 
fic,  which  the  colonists  have  carried  on  with  the  natives, 
i a ;rum  and  military  stores;  and  the  improvident  appli 
cation  of  the  flings,  of , the  Society,  which  has  ;rendere<fl 
it  bankrupt. 

These  objections,  serious  as  they  .are  in  themselves, 
are  net -inseparable  from  ,  the  system -of  Colonization. 
Another  and  more  salubrious  site,  maybe  selected  ;  the 
traffic  complained  of,  may  be  discontinued  ;  and  the  fiscal 
affairs  of  the  Society,  may  hereafter  be  managed  with 
prudence  and  economy.  But  there  are  inherent  evils  in 
the  system,  and  it  is  important  that  the  public  attention 
should  not  be  diverted  from  <these  evils,  by  the  contem 
plation  of  others,  .which  are  only  accidental. 

So,  also,  it  is  important, •-; that  the  sinfulness ,of  slavery, 
should  not  be  merged  in  that  of  its  unauthorized  abuses. 
Many  contend  for  the  lawfulness  of  slavery  who  readily 


O  PREFACE. 

admit  the  sinfulness  of  insulated  cases  of  cruelty.  It  has, 
therefore,  been  my  object  to  show,  that  admitting  the 
slaves  to  be  treated  as  a  prudent  farmer  treats  his  cattle 
— that  they  have  enough  to  eat — are  sheltered  from  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  are  not  subjected  to  a 
greater  degree  of  severity  than  is  necessary,  to  extort 
from  them  a  due  amount  of  labor — American  slavery  is, 
nevertheless,  a  heinous  sin,  and,  like  every  other  sin, 
ought  to  be  immediately  abandoned. 

.February,  1835. 


PART  L 

AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

ON  the  1st  of  January,  1835,  there  were  in  the  United 
States,  2,245,144  slaves.*  This  number  about  equals  the 
population  of  Holland,  and  exceeds  that  of  Scotland,  of 
the  Danish  Dominions,  of  the  Swiss  Confederation,  and  of 
various  Republics  in  South  America.  These  millions  of 
human  beings,  are  held  as  chattels  by  a  people  professing 
to  acknowledge,  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal,  and 
endowed  with  certain  unalienable  rights,  among  which  are, 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  :" — they  are, 
moreover,  kept  in  ignorance,  and  compelled  to  live  without 
God,  and  to  die  without  hope,  by  a  people  professing  to 
reverence  the  obligations  of  Christianity. 

But  slavery  has  ceased  in  other  countries,  where  it  for 
merly  prevailed  ;  and  may  we  not  hope  that  it  is  gradually 
expiring  in  this  ?  Such  a  hope  is,  alas,  forbidden  by  the  follow 
ing  statement  of  our  slave  population,  at  different  periods : 
United  States,  1790,  697,697,  1835,  2,245,144 

Kentucky,  do.         12,430          1830,        165,350 

Mississippi  and   )       18QO         3  4gg  do  iQ2^3 

Alabama,  $ 

Louisiana,  1810,      34,660  do.          109,631 

Missouri,  do.          3,011  do.  24,990 

Perhaps,  however,  the  political  evils  of  slavery  may  be 
gradually  mitigated,  and  finally  removed,  by  an  increas- 

-*  According  to  the  ratio  of  increase  between  1820  and  1830. 


-8  INTRODUCTION. 

ing  preponderance  in  the  white  population.  Unfortunately, 
we  are  compelled  by  facts  to  anticipate  a  very  different  re 
sult.  A  comparison  of  the  census  of  1830,  with  that  of 
1820,  affords  us  the  following  ratio  of  increase  in  the  free 
and  slave  population,  for  the  intermediate  ten  years  : 
N.Carolina,  Free  13.4  per  ct.  Slave  20.2  per  ct 

:S.  Carolina,  ,8.7  22.1 

Alabama,  124.  180.4 

Mississippi,  66.8  100.1 

Louisiana,  25.6  58*7 

Missouri,  104.3  144.7 

Tennessee,  59.5  77.7 

Kentucky,  19.6  30.4 

Arkansas  Territory,  104.8  180. 

It  is  obvious,  from  these  details,  that,  if  the  present  sys- 
4em  be  continued,  /the  time  cannot  be,fa-r  distant,  when  the 
•slaves  w ill  possess  a  frightful  numerical  superiority  ovei 
.-their  masters.  Already  do  they  bear  to  the  whites,  in  the 

•  slave  States  and  Territories,  the  proportion  of  1,  to  2.79. 
In  South-Carolina,  and  Louisiana,    they  are  now   a   ma 
jority. 

But  in  our  contemplation  of  slavery,  the  sufferings  of 
/the  slaves  claim  our.  consideration,  no  less  than  the  dangers 
to  which  the  whites  .are  exposed.  The  ordinary  evils  of 
slavery  ase  -in  this  country  greatly  Aggravated,,  by  a  cruel 
^and  extensive  slave  trade.  Various  circumstances  have 
of  late  years  combined,  to  lessen  the  demand  for  slave  labour 
-in  the  more  northern,  and  to  .increase  it  in  the  more  south 
ern  and  western  portions  of  the  slave  region  ;  while  the 
enlarged  consumption  of  sugar  and  cotton  is  enhancing  the 
market  value  of  slaves.  The  most  profitable  employment 
of  this  species  of  labour,  is  unfortunately  found  in  those 
States,  which,  from  their  recent  settlement,  possess  im 
mense  tracts  which  are  still  to  be  brought  inio  cultivation, 
and  in  which,  consequently,  there  now  is,  and  will  long 
continue  to  be,  an  urgent  demand  for  slaves.  Hence  has 
arisen  a  prodigious  and  annually  increasing  transportation 

•  of  slaves  to  the  south  and  west. 

There  are  no  official  data,  from  which  the  amount, of 
this  transportation  can  be  ascertained  ;  but  from  facts  that 
thave  "transpired,  and  from  estimates  made  at  .the 


INTRODUCTION.  "9 

there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  exceeds  30,000  a  year ! 
One  of  the  peculiar  abominations  of  this  trade  is,  that  its 
victims  are  almost  exclusively  children  and  youths.  In 
stead  of  removing  whole  families  and  gangs  of  negroes,  the 
dealers  for  the  most  part,  according  to  their  own  advertise 
ments,  select  individuals  "  of  both  sexes,  from  twelve  to 
twenty-five  years." 

He  surely  can  have  little  claim  to  the  character  of  a 
patriot,  or  a  Christian,  who  does  not  desire,  that  his  coun 
try  may  be  delivered  from  the  sin  and  curse  of  slavery  ;  or 
who  refuses  even  to  consider  the  means  proposed  for  effect 
ing  this  great  object. 

A  powerful  institution  is  now  in  operation,  which  pro 
fesses  to  be,  not  merely  a  remedy  for  slavery,  but  the  ONLY 
remedy  that  can  be  devised.  It  appeals  to  religion  and 
patriotism,  for  those  pecuniary  aids,  which,  it  contends,  are 
alone  wanting,  to  enable  it  to  transport  our  whole  colored 
population  to  Africa,  there  to  enjoy  the  freedom  denied  to 
them  here  ;  and  there  to  become  the  dispensers  of  religion, 
and  the  arts  and  sciences,  to  that  benighted  continent. 

If  the  claims  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  are 
founded  in  truth,  they  cannot  be  resisted  without  guilt. 
Very  many,  however,  who  are  alike  distinguished  for 
piety  and  talents,  instead  uf  allowing  these  claims,  strenu 
ously  maintain,  that  the  practical  tendency  of  the  Society, 
is  to  perpetuate  the  evils  it  professes  to  remove ;  and  to 
extend  to  Africa,  the  vices,  but  not  the  blessings  of  civiliza 
tion.  These  conflicting  opinions,  on  a  subject  so  momen 
tous,  demand  a  calm  and  patient  investigation  ;  since  he 
who  either  supports  or  opposes  the  Colonization  Society, 
without  first  ascertaining  its  true  character,  the  results  it 
has  produced,  and  the  influence  it  exerts,  incursjpthe 
hazard,  as  far  as  his  example  and  efforts  extend,  of  in 
creasing  the  wretchedness  he  would  relieve  ;  and  of  fasten 
ing  upon  his  country,  the  burden  under  which  she  is  strug 
gling. 

If,  in  a  question,  involving  the  temporal  and  eternal 
happiness  of  unborn  millions,  we  could  satisfy  our  con 
sciences,  by  bowing  to  the  authority  of  great  names,  we 
should  still  be  painfully  embarrassed  in  selecting  those,  to 
whose  decision  we  should  surrender  our  own  judgments. 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

The  excellent  of  the  earth,  are  to  be  found  among  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  this  association ;  and  if  various 
ecclesiastical  bodies  in  our  own  country,  have  recommend 
ed  it  to  the  patronage  of  their  churches,  it  is  regarded  with 
abhorrence  by  almost  the  whole  religious  community  of 
Great  Britain  ;  and  the  last  effort  .made  by  WIJLBERFORCE 
in  the  great  cause  of  negro  liberty,  was,  to  address  to  the 
people  of  Great  Britain  his  solemn  protest  against  the  doc 
trines  and  conduct  of  the  American  Colonization  Society. 

This  Institution  may  have  been  formed  by  good  men,  and 
from  the  purest  motives,  yet  it  is  possible,  that  its  opera 
tion  may  not  have  been  such  as  they  anticipated.  "So 
many  unforeseen,  concealed,  and  inappreciable  causes,"  says 
a  very  eminent  writer,  "have  an  influence  on  human  insti 
tutions,  that  it  is  impossible  to  judge  a  priori  of  their  effects. 
Nothing  but  a  long  series  of  experiments,  can  unfold  these 
effects,  and  point  out  the  means  of  counteracting  those  th#,t 
are  hurtful." 

The  following  inquiry  has  been  commenced,  and  pur 
sued,  under  a  deep  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  subject 
and  with  a  solemn  recollection,  that  no  deviation  from  truth, 
can  escape  the  notice  and  displeasure  of  HIM,  unto  whom 
all  hearts  are  open,  and  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid. 


CHAPTER   I. 

ORIGIN,    CONSTITUTION,    AND    CHARACTER    OF    THE  AMERf' 
CAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

ON  the  23d  December,  1816,  the  Legislature  of  Vir 
ginia  passed  &  resolution  requesting  the  Governor  to  cor 
respond  with  the  President  of  the  United  States,  "  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  a  territory  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  or 
at  some  other  place  not  within  any  of  the  States,  or  terri 
torial  governments  of  the  United  States,  to  serve  as  an 
asylum  for  such  persons  of  colour  as  are  now  free,  and  may 
desire  the  same,  and  for  those  who  may  hereafter  be  eman 
cipated  within  this  commonwealth.'* 

Within  a  few  days  of  the  date  of  this  resolution,  a  meet 
ing  was  held  at  Washington  to  take  this  very  subject  into8 
consideration.  It  was  composed  almost  entirely  of  south* 
era  gentlemen.  Judge  Washington  presided  ;  Mr.  Clay,- 
Mr.  Randolph,  and  others,  took  part  in  the  discussions 
which  ensued,  and  which  resulted  in  the  organization  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society.  Judge  Washington 
was  chosen  President,  and  of  the  seventeen  Vice  Presidents, 
only  five  were  selected  from  the  free  States,  while  the 
twelve  managers  were,  it  is  believed,  without  one  excep 
tion,  slave-holders. 

IK  The  first  two  articles  of  the  constitution,  are  the  only 
ones  relating  to  the  object  of  the  Society.  Th«y  are  as 
follows : 

Art.  I.  This  Society  shall  be  called  the  American  So 
ciety  for  colonizing  the  free  people  of  colour  of  the  United 
States. 

Art.  II.  The  object  to  which  its  attention  is  to  be'exclu- 
sively  directed,  is  to  promote  and  execute  a  plan  for  coloni 
zing  (with  their  consent)  the  free  people  of  color  residing  in 
cnsr  country  in  Africa,  or  such  other  place  as  Congress  shall 


13"  ABSENCE    OF    AVOWED    MOTIVES. 

deem  most  expedient.  And  the  Society  shall  act  to  effect 
this  object  in  co-operation  with  the  general  government  and 
such  of  the  States  as  may  adopt  regulations  on  the  subject- 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  constitution  has  na 
preamble  setting  forth  the  motives  which  led  to  its  adop 
tion,  and  the  sentiments  entertained  by  its  authors.  There 
is  no  one  single  principle  of  duty  or  policy  recognized  in  it, 
and  the  members  may,  without  inconsistency,  be  Christians 
or  Infidels  :  they  may  be  the  friends  or  enemies  of  slavery, 
and  maybe  actuated  by  kindness  or  by  hatred  towards  "the 
free  people  of  color." 

The  omission  of  all  avowal  of  motives  was,  probably, 
not  without  design,  and  has  not  been  without  effect.  It  has 
secured  the  co-operation  of  three  distinct  classes.  Firstr 
such  as  sincerely  desire  to  afford  the  free  blacks  an  asylum 
from  the  oppression  they  suffer  here,  and  by  their  means 
to  extend  to  Africa  the  blessings  of  Christianity  and  civili 
zation,  and  who  at  the  same  time  flatter  themselves  that 
colonization  will  have  a  salutary  influence  in  accelerating 
the  abolition  of  slavery:  Secondly,  such  as  expect  to  en 
hance  the  value  and  security  of  slave  property,  by  removing 
the  free  blacks  :  And,  thirdly,  such  as  seek  relief  from  a  bad 
population,  without  the  trouble  and  expense  of  improving  it. 

The  doors  of  the  Society  being  thrown  open  to  all,  a 
heterogeneous  multitude  has  entered,  and  within  its  portals 
men  are  brought  into  contact,  who,  in  the  ordinary  walks 
of  life,  are  separated  by  a  common  repulsion.  The  devoted 
missionary,  ready  to  pour  out  his  life  on  the  sands  of 
Africa,  is  jostled  by  the  trafficker  in  human  flesh ;  the 
humble,  self-denying  Christian,  listens  to  the  praises  of  the 
Society  from  the  unblushing  profligate ;  and  the  friend  of 
human  rights  and  human  happiness  greets  as  his  fellow- 
laborer  the  man  whose  very  contribution  to  the  cause  is 
extorted  from  the  unrequited  labor  of  his  fellow-men. 
This  anomalous  amalgamation  of  characters  and  motives, 
has  necessarily  led  to  a  lamentable  compromise  of  princi 
ple.  Whatever  may  be  the  object  each  member  proposes 
to  himself,  he  is  conscious  it  can  be  effected  only  by  the 
harmonious  co-operation  of  all  the  other  members.  Hence 
it  is  all  important  to  avoid  giving  and  taking  offence ; 
and  never  was  the  maxim,  "  bear  and  forbear,"  more  scru- 


COMPROMISE  OF  PRINCIPLES.  13 

pulously  obeyed.  Certain  irreconcileable  opinions,  but 
regarded  by  their  holders  as  fundamental,  are,  by  common, 
consent,  wholly  suppressed  ;  while  in  matters  of  less  im- 
portance,  the  expression  of  opposite  sentiments  is  freely 
allowed  and  borne  with  commendable  patience. 

The  advocates  of  slavery  forbear  shocking  its  opponents 
by  justifying  it  in  the  abstract,  and  in  return  for  this  com 
plaisance,  those  opponents  forbear  condemning  it  in  par 
ticulars."  Each  party  consents  to  make  certain  conces 
sions  to  conciliate  the  other.  The  Southron  admits  slavery 
to  be  a  political  evil ;  the  northern  member  courteously 
replies,  that  under  present  circumstances,  it  is  unavoidable, 
and  therefore  justifiable.  The  actual  condition  of  the  slave,, 
his  mental  bondage,  his  bodily  sufferings,  are  understood  to 
be  forbidden  topics'. 

The  oppressor  of  the  free  negro  dwells  on  his  depravity 
and  degradation  ;  the  friend  of  the  free  negro  admits,  and 
often  aggravates  the  charges  against  him,  but  carefully  ab 
stains  from  all  allusion  to  the  true  causes  of  that  depravity 
and  degradation,  unless  to  excuse  them  as  being  inevitable. 
Both  parties  unite  in  depicting  in  glowing  colors,  the  effects 
of  the  oppression  of  the  free  negro,  in  order  to  prove  the 
humanity  of  banishing  him  from  the  country ;  while  both 
refrain  from  all  attempts  to  remove  or  lessen  the  oppres 
sion. 

The  simplicity  of  the  object  of  the  Society  as  stated  in 
its  constitution,  tends  in  a  powerful  degree  to  encourage 
and  enforce  this  compromise  of  principle.  The  constitu 
tion,  in  fact,  vests  a  discretionary  veto  in  every  member  on 
the  expression  of  unpalatable  opinions.  The  attention  of 
the  Society  is  to  be  "  exclusively"  directed  to  the  coloni 
zation  of  persons  of  color,  and  the  constitution  contains  no 
allusion  to  slavery.  Hence  any  denunciation  of  slavery  as 
sinful,*  any  arguments  addressed  to  slave  holders  to  induce 
them  to  manumit  their  slaves,  would  be  unconstitutional, 
and  are  therefore  carefully  avoided.  But  the  free  blacks 

*  Candor  requires  the  admission  that  there  is  at  least  one  exception  to  this 
remark.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  in  1834,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Breck- 
enridge  in  his  speech  insisted  on  the  sinfulness  of  slavery.  A  distinguished 
lay  member  of  the  Society,  who  was  present,  complained  to  the  author  of 
Mr.  B.'s  unconstitutional  conduct,  and  declared  that  he  was  strongly 
tempted  publicly  to  call  him  to  order. 
2 


W  COMPROMISE  OF  PRINCIPLES. 

ciarinot  be  transported  without  money,  and  much  monef 
dannot  be  had,  without  the  aid  of  the  enemies  of  slavery. 
It  is  therefore  permitted  to  represent  the  Society  as  an  an-- 
tkiote  to  slavery,  as  tending  to  effect  its  abolition,  any  thing 
in  the  constitution  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  But 
then  this  abolition  is  to  be  brought  about  at  some  future 
indefinite  period.  True  it  is,  that  the  constitution  is  as 
silent,  with  respect  to  manumission,  as  it  is  to  slavery  ;  but 
by  common  consent,  this  silence  is  not  permitted  to  inter 
pose  the  slightest  obstacle  to  a  unanimous,  vigorous,  and 
persevering  opposition  to  present  manumission.  Were  the 
American  Bible  Society  to  deprecate  the  emancipation  of 
slaves,  and  to  censure  all  who  propos-ed  it,  the  outrage 
would  excite  the  indignation  of  the  whole  community.  But 
what  would  be  a  perversion  of  its  avowed  object  in  a  Bible 
Society,  is  perfectly  lawful  in  a  Colonization  Society,  not 
because  it  is  authorized  by  the  constitution,  but  because  it 
is  expedient  to  conciliate  the  stave  holders. 

Many  of  the  supporters  of  the  Society  are  interested  in 
the  American  slave  trade* — a  trade  replete  with  cruelty 
and  injustice.  To  condemn  this  trade,  or  to  labor  for  its 
suppression,  would  be  unconstitutional.  The  African:  slave 
trade  rather  interferes  with,  than  promotes  the  interests  of 
the  slave  owners,  and  the  Society  deem  it  unnecessary  to 
seek  far  any  constitutional  warrant  to  justify  the  most  vioj 
lent  denunciation  of  the  foreign  traffic  ;  or  an  application 
to  foreign  powers  to  declare  it  piratical. f 

To  hold  up  the  free  blacks  to  the  detestation  of  the* 
community,  is  constitutional — to  recommend  them  to  the 
sympathy  of  Christians,  to  propose  schools  for  their  in 
struction,  plans  for  encouraging  their  industry,  and  efforts 
for  their  moral  and  religious  improvement,  would  be  such  a 
flagrant  departure  from  the  ""exclusive"  object  of  the  Soci 
ety,  that  no  member  has  hitherto  been  rash  enough  to  make 
the  attempt.  At  the  same  time  it  is  quite  constitutional  to 
vindicate  the  cruel  laws  Which  are  crushing  these  people 
in  the  dust,  and  to  show  that  the  oppression  they  suffer  is 
"an  ordination  of  Providence/' 

*  The  first  President  of  the  Society,  was,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  no 
inconsiderable  dealer, 
t  See  proceedings  of  Am.  Col.  Society  of  20th  January,  1827. 


<COKSEQUENCES  OF  THE  COMPROMIS-E..  H> 

The  constitution  indeed,  forbids  the  transportation  of  the 
free  blacks  without  "  their  consent ;"  but  it  is  very  consti 
tutional  to  justify  and  encourage  such  oppression  of  them, 
as  shall  compel  them  to  seek  in  .the  wilds  of  Africa,  a  re 
fuge  from  American  cruelty. 

The  natural  result  of  this  compromise  of  principle,  this 
suppression  of  truth,  this  sacrifice  to  unanimity,  has  been 
the  adoption  of  expediency  as  the  standard  of  right  and 
wrong,  in  the  place  of  the  revealed  will  of  God.  Unmind 
ful  of  the  poet's  precept, 

Be  virtuous  ends  pursued  by  virtuous  means, 
Nor  think  the  intention  sanctifies  the  deed, 

good  men,  and  good  Christians,  have  been  tempted  by  their 
zeal  for  the  Society,  to  countenance  opinions  and  practices 
inconsistent  with  justice  and  humanity.  Confident  that 
their  motives  were  good,  and  their  object  important,  they 
have  been  too  little  scrupulous  of  the  means  they  employed ; 
and  hence, the  Society  has  actually  e^xerted  a  demoralizing 
influence  over  its  own  members,  by  leading  them  occasion 
ally  to  advance  in  its  behalf  opinions  at  variance  with 
truth  and  Christianity.  Unhappily  the  evil  influence  of  the 
Society  has  not  been  confined  to  its  own  members.  It  has, 
to  a  lamentable  extent,  vitiated  the  moral  sense  of  the  com 
munity,  by  reconciling  public  opinion  to  the  continuance 
of  slavery,  and  by  aggravating  those  sinful  prejudices 
against  the  free  blacks,  which  are  subjecting  them  to  insult 
and  persecution,  and  denying  them  the  blessings  of  educa 
tion  and  religious  instruction. 

We  are  sensible  that  these  are  grave  assertions^ and  that 
m,any  will  deem  them  very  extraordinary  on-es.  The 
reader's  belief  is  not  solicited  for  them  at  pre.sent,  nor  will 
it  be  for  any  assertion  hereafter  made,  till  supported  by 
unquestionable  evidence.  The  remarks  in  this  chapter  are 
intended  only  as  .a  general  statement  of  the  case  against 
the  Society,  and  as  an  explanation  of  the  process  by  which 
many  excellent  men  belonging  to  it,  have  insensibly  been 
seduced  into  conduct  of  at  least  doubtful  morality.  The 
charges  now  made  will  in  due  time  be  substantiated  by 
authentic  facts,  and  by  quotations  from  the  language,  botn 
official  and  private,  of  members  of  the  Society. 


1*  SOCIETY  TO  BE  JUDGED  BY  ITS  LANGTJAG^. 

'True  it  is,  that  Colonizationists  protest  most  earnestly 
against  being  judged  by  any  but  the  official  language  of  the 
Board  of  Managers.  To  the  justice  of  this  protest  it  is 
impossible  to  assent.  The  Society  is  arraigned  at  the  bar 
of  the  public,  not  for  the  object  avowed  in  the  constitution*, 
but  for  the  influence  it  exerts  in  vindicating  and  prolonging 
slavery,  and  in  augmenting  the  oppression  of  the  free 
blacks.  This  influence,  if  exerted  at  all,  must  be  exerted 
by  individuals  in  the  capacity  of  members,  agents,  and 
officers  of  the  Society,  and  the  only  means  they  possess 
of  exerting  this  influence,  is  by  the  expression  of  their  sen 
timents.  To  insist,  therefore,  that  these  sentiments  may 
not  be  quoted,  to  show  what  influence  the  Society  does 
exert,  is  to  contradict  the  plainest  suggestions  of  common 
sense.  Certainly  the  whole  Society  is  not  necessarily  res 
ponsible  for  the  sentiments  of  a  single  member ;  but  the 
question  is  not,  whether  one  or  two  or  more  members  have 
said  improper  things,  but  whether  the  influence  generally 
exerted  by  the  Society,  is  what  it  is  alleged  to  be  ;  and 
this  is  a  question  of  fact,  to  be  decided  by  evidence,  and  that 
evidence  necessarily  consists  of  the  opinions  expressed  by 
its  officers,  agents,  and  distinguished  members,  and  auxiliary 
associations. 

This  protest,  moreover,  comes  with  an  ill  grace  from  a 
Society  that  has  appealed  to  the  letters  and  the  speeches  of 
its  members,  to  repel  the  objection  urged  against  it  in  cer 
tain  quarters,  of  a  desire  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
slave-holders.*  Should  the  members  and  officers  of  an  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  continually,  at  its  public  meetings,  deliver 
addresses  in  favour  of  intermarriages  between  whites  and 
blacks — should  auxiliaries  pass  resolutions  approving  of 
such  marriages — should  these  addresses  and  resolutions  be 
published  and  circulated  at  the  expense  of  the  Society,  and 
should  its  official  magazine  recommend  such  marriages, 
would  it  not  be  the  excess  of  disingenuousness,  for  the 
Society  to  attempt  to  repel  the  charge  that  its  influence 
was  exerted  to  bring  about  an  amalgamation  of  the  two 
races,  by  denying  that  it  was  responsible  for  the  language 
of  its  members,  and  by  appealing  to  its  constitution  and 

*  See  Af.  Rep.  VI.  198. 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  FREE  COLORED  PERSONS.     L7 

official  reports,  in  which  no  allusion  was  made  to  the  sub 
ject?  All  that  can  fairly  be  demanded,  is  that  the  quota 
tions  be  honestly  made,  and  that  they  be  sufficiently  nu 
merous  and  explicit,  i  to  establish  the  facts  they  are  brought 
to  prove.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed,  that  we  in 
tend  to  prove  our  charges  against  the  Society,  only  by  the 
declarations  of  individual  members.  On  the  contrary,  we 
shall  summon  as  witnesses,  the  MANAGERS  of  the  parent  So 
ciety,  and  its  auxiliaries  ;  arid  shall  exhibit  in  evidence  their 
official  reports  and  addresses.  In  the  following  pages  will 
be  found  numerous  extracts  from  Cplonization  documents^; 
and  it  is .  right  lo  observe  that  th-eyjare  for  the  most  part, 
merely  ^elections,  and  bearing  generally  but  a  small  pro- 
p.ortion  to  the  whole  number  of.  extracts  to^the  same  point, 
that  might  have  been  adduced.  Some  ^ew  of  the  extracts 
have  been  made  by  other  writers  ;  but  ,jtl>e  .great  mass  ot 
them  have  been  selected  by  the  author, , and ,  in  no  instance 
has  he  given  a  quotajtioji,  which  be  does  not  Jbelieve  is  fairly 
and  honestly  made.  To  prevent  mistakes,  it  may  be  well 
to  mention,  that  the  African  Repository  is  a  monthly  maga 
zine,  and  is,  as  appears  from  the  title  page,  "  published  by 
order  <?f  the  Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Soci 
ety."  The  Editor  is  understood  to  be  the  Secretary  of  the 
Society.  This  periodical,  together  with  the  annual  reports, 
and  occasional  official  addresses,  are  the  only  publications 
for  which  the  managers  of  the  Spciety  are  responsible: 
when  Colonization  newspapers  are  mentioned,  nothing 
more  is  intended  by  4;he  expression,  than  that  they  are  pa 
pers  which  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Society. 


CHAPTER   II. 

-INFLUENCE  OF    THE  SOCIETY  ON    THE  CONDITION  OF   TRE.E 
PERSONS  OF  COLOR. 

The  object  of  the  Society  is  declared  <by  the  Constitu 
tion,  to  be  exclusively -the  coloiwza-tion  of  free  persons  at 
color,  with  their  ,own  consent.  Now  there  is  nothing  in 
this  object  necessarily  benevolent.  A  colony  may  be  es 
tablished  for  commercial  purposes,  or  as  a  military  station, 
2* 


IS  AGGRAVATES  PREJUDICE, 

or  as  a  receptacle  for  convicts,  or  to  aid  the  diffusion  of 
Christianity.  The  absence  in  the  Constitution  of  all  avowed 
motive  for  the  proposed  colony,  invites  the  co-operation  of 
all  who  advocate  the  scheme  from  any  motive  whatever. 
For  the  purpose  of  raising  money,  it  is  the  policy  of  the 
Society  to  appeal  to  all  the  various  and  discordant  motives 
that  can  be  incited  in  behalf  of  the  colony.  A  strong  and 
very  general  prejudice  exists  against  the  free  blacks.  It  is 
unfortunately  the  policy  of  the  Society  to  aggravate  this 
prejudice,  since  the  more  we  abominate  these  people,  the 
more  willing  we  shall  be  to  .pay  money  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  rid  of  them.  The  influence  of  the  doctrine  of  ex 
pediency  on  good  men,  will  be  seen  in  the  unchristian  lan 
guage  they  have  used,  in  regard  to  this  unhappy  and  op 
pressed  portion  of  their  fellow-men. 

"Free  blacks  are  a  greater  NUISANCE  than  even  slaves 
themselves."  Address  of  C.  C.  Harper,  Af.  Rep.  II.  189. 

"  A  horde  of  miserable  people — the  objects  of  universal 
suspicion — ^subsisting  by  plunder."  Speech  of  Gen.  Mercer, 
Vice  President. 

"  Of  all  classes  of  our  population,  the  most  vicious  is  that 
of  the  free  colored — contaminated  themselves,  they  ex 
tend  their  vices  to  all  around  them."  Speech  of  Mr.  Clay, 
Vice  President,  12th  Report,  p.  21. 

"Averse  to  labor,  with  no  incentives  to  industry,  or  mo 
tives  to  respect,  they  maintain  a  precarious  exietence  by 
petty  thefts  and  plunder."  African  Rep.  VI.  135. 

"  They  are  alike  injurious  by  their  conduct  and  example 
to  all  other  classes  of  society."  .Memorial  of  Manchester 
Col.  Soc.  to  Virginia  Legislature. 

11  A  large  mass  of  human  beings  who  hang  as  a  vile  ex 
crescence  upon  society."  Address  of  C.  L.  Mosby,  before  a 
Col.  Soc.  in  Virginia. 

"  This  class  of  persons  a  CURSE  AND  CONTAGION 
wherever  they  reside."  African  Rep.  III.  203. 

"Of  all  the  descriptions  of  our  population,  and  of  either 
portion  of  the  African  race,  the  free  persons  of  color  are 
by  far,  as  a  class,  the  most  corrupt,  depraved  and  aban 
doned."  Speech  of  Mr.  Clay,  African  Rep.  VI.  12. 

"  An  anomalous  race  of  beings,  the  most  depraved  upon 
Dearth."  African  Rep.  VII.  230. 


EXCUSES  OPPRESSION.  19 

"  They  are  a  mildew  upon  our  fields,  a  scourge  to  our 
backs,  and  a  stain  upon  our  escutcheon."  Memorial  of 
Kentucky  Col.  Soc.  to  Congress. 

"  I  will  look  no  farther  when  I  seek  for  the  most  de 
graded,  the  most  abandoned  race  on  the  earth,  but  rest  my 
<3ye  on  this  people."  Address  before  the  Lynchburgh  Col. 
Soc. 

"There  is  a  class  (free  blacks)  among  us,  introduced 
by  violence,  notoriously  ignorant,  degraded  and  miserable, 
mentally  diseased,  broken  spirited,  acted  upon  by  no  mo 
tives  to  honorable  exertions,  scarcely  reached  in  their  de 
basement  by  the  heavenly  light."  -Editorial  Article,  Afr. 
Rep.  I.  68. 

We  may  here  remark,  that  the  tone  of  these  extracts  is 
very  different  from  that  used  when  the  speaker  desires  to 
excite  sympathy  for  the  wretched.  We  are  told  that  these 
people  are  vicious  and  debased,  but  no  hint  is  given  that 
their  vice  and  debasement  are  the  result  of  sinful  prejudices 
and  cruel  laws. — No  appeal  is  made  to  the  spirit  of  Chris 
tianity  to  pour  oil  and  wine  into  the  wound  of  suffering 
humanity.  We  are  not  reminded  that  these  wretches  are 
our  brethren  for  whom  Christ  died.  Nothing  is  omitted  to 
impress  us  with  a  sense  of  the  depth  of  the  misery  into 
which  they  are  plunged  ;  but  for  what  object  are  these  fright 
ful  pictures  presented  to  us  ?  Is  it  to  urge  us  to  feed  the 
hungry,  to  clothe  the  naked,  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  and 
to  reform  the  wicked  !  No,  but  to  transport  them  to  Africa ! 

To  an  unsophisticated  Christian  it  would  seem  that  the 
true  way  of  relieving  the  wretchedness  and  vice  of  these 
people  would  be,  first  to  protest  against  their  unrighteous 
oppression,  and  to  procure  the  repeal  of  those  laws  which 
forbid  their  instruction;  and  then  to  make  them  partakers 
of  the  blessings  of  education  and  religion.  But  far  from 
the  Colonization  Society  are  all  such  old  fashioned  ways  of 
doing  good.  Instead  of  protesting  against  the  causes  of  all 
this  misery,  THE  SOCIETY  EXCUSES  AND  JUSTIFIES  THE 

OPPRESSION  OF  THE  FREE  NEGROES,  AND  THE  PREJUDICES 
AGAINST  THEM. 

"  SEVERE  NECESSITY  places  them  (free  negroes)  in  a 
class  of  degraded  beings."  Address  of  Mr.  Rives  to 
JLynchburgh  Col.  Soc.  Afr.  Rep.  V.  238. 


"20  EXCUSES  OPPRESSION. 

"  The  severe  legislation,  /  will  not  say  that  under  all 
circumstances  it  is  too  severe,  the  severe  legislation  of  the 
slave  States  which  drives  their  emancipated  blacks  to  the 
free  States,  and  scatters  the  NUISANCE  there,  attests  that  we 
have  a. share  in  this  evil."  Speech  oj  G.  Smith,  JSsq.  Vice 
President.  14th  Report,  p.  .xiii. 

•"  This  law,"  (a  law  by  which  a  manumitted  negro  be- 
•  comes  again  a  slave. if  he  :remains  twelve  months  in  the 
state)  "  odious  and  unjust  as  it  may  at  first  view  appear, 
and  hard  as  it  may  seem  to  bear  upon  the  liberated  negro, 
was  doubtless  dictated  by  sound  policy,  and  its  repeal 
would  be  regarded  by  none  with  more  unfeigned  regret  than 
by  the  friends  of  African  colonization.  It  has  restrained 
many  masters  from,  giving- freedom  to  thein-slaves,  and  has 
thereby  contributed,  to  check  the  gcowth  of  an  evil  alrea 
dy  too-great  and  formidable."  .Memorial from  Powhattan 
Col.  Soc.  to  Virginia  Legislature. 

"  I  am  clear  that  whether  we  consider  it  with  reference 
to  the  welfare  of  the  state,  or  the  happiness  of  the  blacks, 
it  were  better  to  have  left  them  in  CHAINS,  than  to  have  li 
berated  them  to  receive  such  freedom  as  they  enjoy,  and 
greater  freedom  we  cannot,  must  not  allow  them."  j^f. 
Rep.  III.  197. 

"  The  habits,  the  feelings,  all  the  prejudices  of  society 
— prejudices  which  neither  refinement,  nor  argument,  nor 
education,  NOR  RELIGION  ITSELF  CAN  subdue,  .mark  the 
people  of  color,  whether  bond  or  free,  as  the  subjects,  of  <a 
degradation  inevitable  and  incurable."  Address  of  the 
Connecticut  Col.  Soc. 

"The  managers  consider  it  clear  that  causes  exist  and 
are  now  operating  to  prevent  their  improvement  and  eleva 
tion  to  any  considerable  extent  as  a  class  in  this  country, 
which  are  fixed  not  only  beyond  the  control  of  the  friends 
of  humanity,  but  of  any  human  power:  CHRISTIANITY  can 
not  do  for  them  here  what  it  will  do  for  them  in  Africa. 
This  is  not  the  fault  of  the  colored  man,  nor  of  the  white 
man,  but  AN  ORDINATION  OF  PROVIDENCE,  and  no  more  to 
be  changed  than  the  laws  of  nature."  15th  Report,  p.  47. 

"  We  do  not  ask  that  the  provisions  of  our  Constitution 

and  statute  book  should  be  so  modified  as  to  relieve  and  ex- 

i,alt  the.  condition  of  the  colored  people  whilst  they  re.rn.aiji 


XAWS  AGAINST  FREE  BLACKS.  31 

with  us.  Let  these  provisions  stand  in  ALL  THEIR  RIGOR 
to  work  out  the  ultimate  and  unbounded  good  of  these  peo 
ple."  Memorial  of  the  New-York  State  Col.  Soc.  to  the 
Legislature. 

"If  we  were  constrained  to  admire  so  uncommon  a 
being,"  (a  pious,  highly  cultivated,  scientific  negro,)  "  our 
very  admiration  would  be  mingled  with  disgust,  because  in 
the  physical  organization  of  his  frame  we  meet  an  insur 
mountable  barrier  even  to  approach  to  social  intercourse, 
and  in  the  Egyptian  color  which  nature  has  stamped  on  his 
features,  a  principle  of  repulsion  so  strong  as  to  forbid  the 
idea  of  a  communion  either  of  interest  or  of  feeling  as  ut 
terly  abhorrent."  Af.  Rep.  VII.  p.  331. 

We  find  from  the  foregoing  extracts  that  the  Board  of 
Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  officially 
declare,  that  no  human  power  can  counteract  the  causes 
which  prevent  the  elevation  and  improvement  of  the  free 
black  in  this  country.  That  not  even  the  religion  of  Christ 
can  in  this  land  of  light,  of  Bibles,  and  of  temples,  do  for 
him  what  it  can  amid  the  darkness  and  paganism  of  Africa. 
And  we  find  a  powerful  State  Society  recommending  to 
the  Legislature  to  do  evil,  that  good  may  come.  Now  if 
it  be  true,  that  the  degradation  of  the  free  blacks  is  inevi 
table  and  cannot  even  be  removed  by  Christianity,  then  in 
deed,  as  the  Society  affirms,  it  is  not  the  "  fault"  of  the 
white  man,  and  he,  not  being  in  fault,  there  is  no  reason 
why  he  should  change  his  conduct  towards  them,  or  repeal 
those  laws  which  Mr.  Smith  will  not  say  are  under  all  cir 
cumstances  "too  severe."  Let  us  see  what  are  these  laws, 
which  a  most  worthy  Colonizationist,  and  a  distinguished 
officer  of  the  Society,  intimates,  are  not  too  severe  ;  and 
what  are  those  causes  of  degradation  which  we  are  assured 
by  the  Board  of  Managers,  are  an  ordination  of  Providence, 
and  no  more  to  be  changed  than  the  laws  of  nature. 

In  some  of  the  States,  if  a  free  man  of  color  is  accused 
of  crime,  he  is  denied  the  benefit  of  those  forms  of  trial 
which  the  Common  Law  has  established  for  the  protection 
of  innocence.  Thus,  in  South  Carolina,  it  is  thought  quite 
unnecessary  to  give  a  Grand  and  Petit  Jury  the  trouble  of 
inquiring  into  his  case  :  he  can  be  hung  without  so  much 
ceremony.  But  who  is  a  colored  man  ?  We  answer,  the 


"22  LAWS  AGAINST  FREE  BLACKS. 

fairest  man  in  Carolina,  if  it  can  be  proved  that  a  drop  of 
negro  blood  flowed  in  the  veins  of  his  mother.  The  fol 
lowing  extract  from  a  late  Charleston  paper  gives  us  a  cu 
rious  instance  of  the  administration  of  criminal  justice  in  a 
Christian  country  in  the  19th  Century.  "TRIAL  FOR  MUR 
DER — William  Tann,  a  free  colored  man,  was  tried  on 
Friday  last  at  John's  Island,  for  the  murder  of  Moses,  the 
slave  of  Jos.  D.  Jenkins,  Esq.  of  that  place.  The  Court 
consisted  of  William  H.  Inglesby  and  Alexander  H.  Brown, 
Esqrs.  Judicial  Magistrates"  (Justices  of  the  Peace)  "  of 
this  City,  together  with  Jive  freeholders — . — The  murder 
was  committed  at  John's  Island  on  the  4th  July,  1832,  Tann 
shooting  down  Moses  with  a  musket  loaded  with  buckshot. 
Tann  was  at  that  time  overseer  of  a  Mr.  Murray,  and  from 
thefairness  of  his  complexion  was  thought  to  be  and  passed 
for  a  WHITE  MAN.  He  was  accordingly  bound  over  to 
answer  for  this  offence  to  the  .COURT  OF  SESSIONS,  but  it 
having  been  decided  on  an  issue  ordered  and  tried  at  Wal- 
terborough,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  his  caste,  that 
he  was  of  MIXED  BLOOD,  he  was  turned  over  by  the  Court, 

to  the  jurisdiction  of  Magistrates,  and  Freeholders the 

Court  found  him  guilty,  and  sentenced  him  to  be  hung  on 
Friday  the  24th  April  next,"  1835. — Charleston  Courier. 

In  South  Carolina,  if  a  free  negro  "  entertains"  a  runa 
way  slave,  he  forfeits  ten  pounds,  and  if  unable  to  pay  the 
fine,  which  must  be  the  case  ninety-nine  times  in  a  hundred, 
'he  is  to  be  sold  as  a  slave  for  life.  In  1827,  nfree  woman 
and  her  three  children  were  .thus  sold,  for  harbouring  ,two 
slave  children. 

In  Mississippi,  every  negro  or  mulatto,  not  being  able  to 
prove  himself  free,  may  be  sold  as  a  slave.  Should  the 
certificate  of  his  manumission,  or  the  evidence  of  his  pa 
rent's  freedom,  be  lost  or  stolen,  he  is  reduced  to  hopeless 
bondage.  This  provision  extends  to  most  of  ,the  slave 
States,  and  is  in  full  operation  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

In  South  Carolina,  any  assembly  of  free  negroes,  even  in 
the  presence  of  white  persons,  "  in  a  confined  or  secret 
place,  for  the  purpose  of  mental  instruction,"  is  an  unlaw 
ful  assembly,  and  may  be  dispersed  by  a  magistrate,  who 
is  authorized  to  inflict  twenty  lashes  on  each  free  negro  at 
tending  the  meeting. 


£AWS  AGAINSt  FREE  BLACKS'.  23 

In  the  city  of  Savannah,  any  person  who  teaches  a  free 
negro  to  read  or  write,  incurs  a  penalty  of  thirty  dollarsi 
Of  course  a  father  may  not  instruct  his  own  children. 

In  Maryland,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  may  order  a  free 
negro's  ears  to  be  cut  off  for  striking  a  white  man.  In 
Kentucky,  for  the  same  offence,  he  is  to  receive  thirty 
lashes,  "  well  laid  on."  The  law  of  Louisiana  declares, 
f'  Free  people  of  color  ought  never  to  insult  or  strike 
white  people,  nor  presume  to  conceive  themselves  equal  to 
the  whites  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  ought  to  yield  to 
them  on  every  occasion,  and  never  speak  or  answer  them 
but  with  respect,  under  the  penalty  of  imprisonment  ac 
cording  to  the  nature  of  the  case." 

The  corporation  of  Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Co 
lum'bia,  passed  an  ordinance,  making  it  penal  for  any  free 
negro  to  receive  from  the  post-office,  have  in  his  possession, 
or  circulate,  any  publication  or  writing  whatsoever  of  a 
seditious  character. 

In  North  Carolina,  the  law  prohibits  a  free  colored 
man,  whatever  may  be  his  attainments  or  ecclesiastical 
authority,  to  preach  the  gospel. 

In  Georgia,  a  white  man  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  five  hundred 
dollars  for  teaching  a  free  negro  to  read  or  write.  If  one 
free  negro  teach  another,  he  is  to  defined  and  whipped  at 
the  discretion  of  the  court !  Should  a  free  negro  presume 
to  preach  to,  or  exhort  his  companions,  he  may  be  seized 
without  warrant,  and  whipped  thirty-nine  lashes,  and  the 
same  number  of  lashes  may  be  applied  to  each  one  of  his 
congregation. 

In  Virginia,  should  free  negroes  or  their  children  assem 
ble  at  a  school  to  learn  reading  and  writing,  any  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  may  dismiss  the  school  with  twenty  stripes  on  the 
back  of  each  pupil. 

In  some  States,  free  negroes  may  not  assemble  together 
for  any  purpose,  to  a  greater  number  than  seven.  In  North 
Carolina,  free  negroes  may  not  trade,  buy,  or  sell,  out  of 
the  cities  or  towns  in  which  they  reside,  under  the  penalty 
of  forfeiting  their  goods,  and  receiving  in  lieu  thereof  thirty- 
nine  lashes. 

The  laws  of  Ohio  against  the  free  blacks  are  peculiarly- 
detestable,  because  not  originating  from  the  fears  and 


2  IMPROVEMENT  OF  FREE  BLACKS  DISCOURAGED. 

judices  of  slave-holders.  Not  only  are  the  blacks  excluded 
in  that  State  from  the  benefit  of  public  schools,  but  with  a 
refinement  of  cruelty  unparalleled,  they  are  doomed  to  idle 
ness  and  povertyrby  a  law  which  renders  a  white  man  who 
employs  a  colored  one  to  labor  for  him  one  hour,  liable 
for  his  support  through  life  !  I 

By  a  late  law  of  Maryland,  a  free  negro  coming  into  the 
State,  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars  for  every  week  he 
remains  in  it.  If  he  cannot  pay  the  fine,  he  is  SOLD. 

In  Louisiana,  the  penalty  for  instructing  a  free  black  in  a 
Sunday  School,  is,  for  the  first  offence,  five  hundred  dollars  , 
for  the  second  offence,  DEATH  If 

Such,  in  a  greater  or    less  degree,   is  the   situation  of 
three  hundred   thousand    of   our  fellow-citizens ;  and  the 
only  comfort,  the  only  consolation,  the  only  mitigation  of 
their  sufferings,  which  a  Society,  said  to  be  "  full  of  bene 
volence,  and  the  halloAved  impulses  of  Heaven's  own  mer 
ey,"  proposes,   or  even  wishes  for  them,  is  their  transpor 
tation  to  Africa  ! 

Is  this  a  harsh  assertion  ?  Let  us  attend  to  the  proofs 
that  THE  SOCIETY  DISCOURAGES  ALL  ATTEMPTS  TO  IM 
PROVE  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  FREE  BLACKS. 

We  have  already  seen,  that  the  managers  of  the  Ameri 
can  Colonization  Society  officially  declare,  that,  in  their 
opinion,  no  human  power  can  remove  the  causes  which 
prevent  the  improvement  and  elevation  of  the  free  negroes 
to  any  considerable  extent  in  this  country  ;  and  that  the 
New  York  Society,  in  addressing  the  Legislature,  express 
their  desire,  that  the  provisions  in  the  constitution  and  sta 
tute  book  of  that  State  relative  to  the  blacks,  may  "stand 
in  all  their  rigor"  The  provision  in  the  constitution 
here  alluded  to,  is  that  recent  one,  which,  by  requiring  a 
freehold  qualification,  virtually  deprived  the  blacks  of  the 
elective  franchise,  which  the  fathers  of  the  revolution  had 
given  them.  In  the  Convention  by  which  the  new  consti 
tution  was  formed,  many  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens 
and  able  lawyers,  including  Rufus  King  and  Chancellor 
Kent,  had  protested  against  this  proscription  as  unjust  and 
anti-republican  ;  but  the  Colonization  Society  declare  to 
the  Legislature,  without  whose  consent  this  provision  can 
not  be  changed,  that  they  wish  it  to  stand  in  all  its  rigor. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FREE   BLACKS  DISCOURAGED.          25 

No!  contented  with  giving  their  sanction  to  past  acts  of  in 
justice,  the  Society  use  their  influence  \vith  the  Legislature 
to  prevent  its  benevolent  operation  in  future.  Their  Me 
morial  proceeds  : — "  Persuaded  that  their  condition  here  is 
not  susceptible  of  a  radical  and  permanent  improvement,  we 
would  deprecate  any  legislation  that  should  encourage  the 
vain  and  injurious  hope  of  it." 

The  Connecticut  Colonization  Society,  in  their  address 
already  quoted,  denies  that  even  "  religion  itself"  can 
subdue  the  prejudices  existing  against  these  people.  The 
same  address  authoritatively  decides,  that  the  free  blacks 
"constitute  a  class  by  themselves,  a  class  out  of  which  no 
individual  can  be  elevated." 

The  Kentucky  State  Colonization  Society,  in  their  offi 
cial  address,  say,  "  It  is  against  this  increase  of  colored 
persons,  who  take  but  a  nominal  freedom,  and  cannot  rise 
from  their  degraded  condition,  that  this  Society  attempts 
to  provide."  Af.  Rep.  VI.  82. 

"  The  people  of  color  must,  in  this  country,  remain  for 
ages,  probably  forever,  a  separate  and  distinct  caste, 
weighed  down  by  causes  powerful,  universal,  invincible, 
which  neither  legislation,  NOR  CHRISTIANITY,  can  remove." 
Af.  Rep.  Edit.  Art.  VII.  196. 

"  We  have  endeavored,  but  in  vain,  to  restore  thenj,  (the 
free  negroes)  either  to  self  respect,  or  to  the  respect  of 
others.  It  is  not  our  fault  that  we  have  failed.  It  is  not 
theirs.  It  has  resulted  from  a  cause  over  which  neither  we 
nor  they  can  ever  have  control"  Speech  of  Rev.  Dr.  Nott 
before  N.  York  Col.  Soc. 

This  last  extract  claims  attention  from  the  extraordinary 
assertions  which  it  contains,  and  from  the  high  character  of 
the  author.  No  explanations  are  given  of  the  vain  endea 
vors  which  have  been  made  to  restore  the  blacks  either  to 
self  respect,  or  to  the  respect  of  others.  When,  where,  by 
whom,  and  how  were  these  efforts  made  ?  Dr.  Nott  is  ad 
dressing  the  State  Society,  and  speaks  in  the  plural  num 
ber.  We  confess  we  see  nothing  like  such  efforts  in  the 
Memorial  of  that  Society  to  the  Legislature.  It  is  more 
over  to  be  recollected,  that  the  American  Society,  in  its 
address  to  its  auxiliaries,  warns  them  against  such  efforts. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF    FREE  BLACKS  DISCOURAGED^ 

"  The  moral,  intellectual,  and  political  improvement  of 
people  of  color  within  the  United  States,  are  objects  foreign 
to  the  powers  of  this  Society."  Address  of  the  Am.  Col. 
Soc.  to  its  auxiliaries.  Af.  Rep.  VII.  291. 

Let  us  see  also  what  two  religious  colonization  papers 
say  on  this  Subject. 

"If  the  free  people  of  color  were  generally  taught  to 
read,  it  might  be  an  inducement  to  them  to  remain  in  this 
country;  we  would  offer  them  no  such  inducements."  South 
ern  Religious  Telegraph,  Feb.  19,  1831. 

"  It  must  appear  evident  to  all,  that  every  endeavor  to 
divert  the  attention  of  the  community,  or  even  a  portion  of 
the  means  which  the  present  crisis  so  imperatively  calls 
for,  from  the  Colonization  Society,  to  measures  calculated 
to  bind  the  colored  population  to  this  country,  and  seeking 
to  raise  them  to  a  level  with  the  whites,  whether  by  found 
ing  colleges,  or  in  any  other  way,  tends  directly  in  the  pro 
portion  that  it  succeeds,  to  counteract  and  thwart  the  whole 
plan  of  colonization."  New  Haven  Religious  Intelligen 
cer,  July,  1831. 

We  perceive  from  these  extracts,  that  the  improvement 
of  the  free  blacks  is  represented  by  Colohizatioriists  as  im 
possible,  and  of  course  it  is  folly  to  attempt  what  is  imprac 
ticable.  The  very  attempt,  moreover,  is  calculated  to 
counteract  and  thwart  the  whole  plan  of  Colonization,  as 
far  as  it  succeeds.  But  this  is  not  all.  Some  might  think 
the  obligations  of  Christianity  required  us  to  instruct  the 
ignorant,  and  to  succoi4  the  oppressed.  To  remove  this 
prejudice,  we  are  assured  that  even  Christianity  cannot 
help  the  negro  in  America  !  When  before,  has  the  power  of 
our  blessed  religion  in  changing  the  heart,  subduing  evil 
affections,  and  removing  irriholy  prejudices,  been  questioned 
by  professing  Christians? 

The  influence  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  has  led  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  to  offer  themselves  as  willing  victims 
at  the  Stake  or  in  the  amphitheatre — it  has  prostrated  the 
temples,  the  altars,  and  the  gods  of  paganism — it  has  tri 
umphed  over  ancient  and  endeared  superstitions — it  has 
delivered  the  Hindoo  from  the  fetters  of  caste,  and  tamed 
*he  North  American  savage,  and  yet  according  to  Colonize 


NUMBER  SENT  TO  AFRICA.  27 

tionists,  it  is  utterly  impotent,  when  brought  into  collision 
.with  the  prejudices  of  American  Christians,  towards  an  un 
happy  portion  of  their  fellow  countrymen! 

And  what  unsuccessful  experiments  justify  this  deprecia 
tion  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ?  When  have  those  whp 
thus  speak  of  the  inefficacy  of  religion  in  subduing  these 
sinful  prejudices,  tried  its  power?  When  have  Coloniza- 
tionists  warned  Christians  that  the  negro  is  created  by  the 
same  Almighty  Being,  descended  from  the  same  parent,  re 
deemed  by  the  same  Saviour,  and. made  an  heir  of  the  same 
immortality  with  themselves  ?  When  have  we  been  reminded 
by  them  of  that  heart-searching  declaration  which  will  be 
uttered  by  the  Judge  at  the  last  day,  "  inasmuch  as  ye  did 
,it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not 
to  me  ?" 

Admitting  that  the  blacks  who  have  gone  to  Africa  have 
improved  their  condition,  what  is  the  total  amount  of  good 
thus  effected?  Of  the  319,467  free  negroes  in  the  United 
States,  2,122  have  in  the  last  18  years  been  sent  to  Liberia. 
Supposing  them  to  be  happy  in  their  new  abode,  at  what 
a  deplorable  sacrifice  of  the  happiness  of  their  brethren 
here,  has  their  own  been  purchased  !  To  raise  funds  fc^r 
their  transportation,  our  churches  and  halls,  in  all  parts  ot 
the  United  States,  have  rung  with  reproaches  and  accusa 
tions  against  the  free  people  of  color.  Orators,  preachers, 
legislators,  have  denounced  them  as  nuisances,  vile  excres 
cences  on  the  body  politic  ;  ignorant,  depraved,  debased, 
and  utterly  incapable  of  improvement  and  elevation.  The 
laws  oppressing  them  have  been  vindicated,  and  all  legis 
lation  deprecated,  that  would  even  encourage  the  hope  pf 
.their  permanent  improvement. 

And  is  it  possible  that  this  general  and  united  effort  to 
prevent  these  people  from  rising,  and  to  render  them 
odious  to  the  community,  should  have  no  practical  effect  on 
public  opinion  and  conduct  ?  Already  do  we  hear  their  for 
cible  expulsion  from  the. country,  urged  in  petitions,  and 
advocated  in  our  State  Legislatures.  He  must  be  wilfully 
blind  to  passing  events,  who  does  not  perceive  that  the  per 
secution  of  these  people  is  increasing  in  extent  and  malig 
nity.  Lafayette  remarked  in  his  last  visit  with  astonish 
ment,  the  aggravation  of  the  prejudices  against  the  blacks, 


£8  COLONIZATION  INFLUENCE  IN  CONNECTICTTT. 

and  stated  that  in  the  revolutionary  war,  the  black  and 
white  soldiers  messed  together  without  hesitation. 

In  no  instance,  perhaps,  has  Colonization  had  so  direct 
and  obvious  an  influence  in  augmenting  the  injuries  and 
oppression  of  this  unhappy  race,  as  in  Connecticut.  To 
that  State  have  good  men  long  rejoiced  to  look  as  to  a 
bright  pattern  of  a  Christian  republic.  There  they  beheld 
political  liberty  in  its  highest  perfection,  and  so  divested  by 
the  influence  of  religion,  of  those  irregularities  of  conduct 
which  too  often  attend  it,  that  the  State  was  proverbially 
distinguished  as  "the  land  of  steady  habits."  In  no  part 
of  the  world  were  the  blessings  of  education  more  highly 
valued,  or  more  generally  diffused.  The  Colonization 
Society  had  there  taken  a  strong  hold  on  the  affections  of 
the  people,  and  had  found  in  Connecticut  divines  and 
politicians,  and  in  the  religious  periodicals  of  New-Haven, 
zealous  and  able  champions. 

The  city  of  New-Haven  had  been  long,  alike  distin 
guished  for  its  literary  institutions,  and  for  the  sobriety  and 
piety  of  its  inhabitants.  It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising 
that  some  of  the  most  intelligent  and  influential  of  our 
colored  citizens,  were  led  to  believe  that  New-Haven  would 
be  a  proper  site  for  a  school  for  their  children,  and  that 
such  a  school  would  there  find  generous  patrons.  In  1831, 
a  convention  was  held  in  Philadelphia  of  delegates  from 
the  free  colored  people  in  other  States,  and  it  was  deter 
mined  that  an  effort  should  be  made  to  raise  funds  for  "  a 
Collegiate  school,  on  the  manual  labor  system."  A  com 
mittee  was  appointed  to  carry  the  plan  into  execution. 
This  committee  published  in  Philadelphia,  "  An  appeal  to 
the  benevolent,'*  in  which  they  stated  the  necessity  of  the 
proposed  school,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  which  colored 
children  experienced  in  gaining  admission  into  ordinary 
seminaries,  or  mechanical  establishments  ;  and  that  the 
proposed  seminary  would  be  located  at  New-Haven,  and 
"  established  on  the  self  supporting  system,  so  that  the 
student  may  cultivate  habits  of  industry,  and  obtain  a  useful 
mechanical  or  agricultural  profession,  while  pursuing 
classical  studies/' 

Bishops  White  and  Onderdonk,  and  the  Rev.  Doctors 
Me  Auley,  Bedell,  and  Ely,  of  Philadelphia,  gave  the  Com- 


PROCEEDINGS  IN   NEW  HAVEN.  29 

mittee  written  certificates  of  their  approbation,  of  the  edu 
cation  of  colored  youth.  Little,  alas,  did  these  gentlemen 
anticipate  the  feeling  this  effort  would  excite,  among  the 
Christians  of  New  Haven.  No  sooner  had  intelligence  of 
the  intended  school  reached  that  city,  than  the  mayor  sum 
moned  a  town  meeting  "  to  take  into  consideration  a  schennc, 
said  to  be  in  progress,  for  the  establishment  in  this  city  of  a 
college  for  the  education  of  colored  youth."  The  meeting 
was  held  on  the  8th  September,  1631,  arid  it  was  "  Re 
solved  by  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  Common  Council,  , and 
free  men  of  the  city  .of  New  Haven,  in  city  meeting  assem 
bled,  that  we  will  resist  the  establishment  of  the  proposed 
college  in  this  place  by  every  lawful  means."  This  reso- 
•iution  was  preceded  by , a  preamble,  stating  that  "  in  con 
nexion  with  this  establishment,  -  the- immediate,  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States,  is  not  only  recommended  and 
encouraged  by  the  advocates  of  the  proposed  college,  but 
demanded,  as  a  right,"  and  "  that  the  propagation  of  senti 
ments,  favorable  to  the  immediate  emancipation  of  slaves, 
in  disregard  of  the  civil  institutions  of  the  States  to  which 
they  belong,  and  as  auxiliary  thereto,  the  contemporaneous 
founding  of  colleges  for  educating  colored  p.copk>,js  an  un 
warrantable  and  dangerpus  interference  .w.ith  tjiet  internal 
c.oncerns  ofb^hej:  States,  and  ough.t, toJbe  .discouraged." 

That  the  education  of  Colored  citizens  in  Connecticut, 
is  an  unwarrantable  interference  with  the  internal  concerns 
of  other  States,  and  that  the  friends  of  the  proposed  college 
ever  recommended  the  immediate  emancipation  of  slaves 
in  disregard  of  the  civil  institutions  of  the  States  to  which 
they  belong,  are  assertions  which  the  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
Common  Council,  an,d  free  men  of  the  eity.of  New  Haven, 
prudently  permitted  to  rest  on  their  own  authority,  without 
adducing  any  other  evidence  of  their  truth. 

But  surely,  the  pious  arid  excellent  Colonizationists  of 
New  Haven,  who  are  so  anxio.us  to  civilize  the  natives  of 
Africa,  must  have  been. indignant  at  this  attempt  to  keep 
Americans  in  ignorance.  Alas,  in  that  crowded,  assembly, 
there  was  but  one  voice  raised  against  Us  unholy  resolution, 
and  that  was  the  voice  of  a  ^decided  vAnU^eolonizationist, 
the  Rev.  S.  S.  Jocel-yn,  while  one  of  the  public  advocates 
of  the  resolution,  was  the  Secretary  of  the  New  Haven 
3* 


30  PROCEEDINGS  IN  CANTERBURY. 

'Committee  of  Correspondence  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society. 

The  Colonization  party  in  New  Haven,  could  have  pre 
vented  this  high  handed  oppression,  but  their  influence  was 
exerted  not  for,  but  against  the  improvement  and  elevation 
of  their  colored  brethren. 

Unhappily  for  the  character  of  Connecticut,  for  that  of 
our  common  country,  and  even  of  Christianity  itself,  the 
proceedings  in  New  Haven  were  but  the  commencement  of 
a  series  of  outrages  on  justice,  humanity,  and  the  rights  of 
freemen. 

There  are  occasions  on  which  it  is  treason  to  truth  and 
honor, ;if  not  to  religion,  to  suppress  our  indignation;  and 
while  we  shall  scrupulously  adhere  to  -truth  in  relating  the 
measures  pursued  in  ^Connecticut,  to  prevent  the  education 
of  a  certain  class  of  colored  persons,  we  shall  not  shrink 
from  a  free  expression  of  our  opinions  <of  'those  measures, 
and  of  their  authors. 

Miss  Crandall,  a  communicant  in  the  Baptist  church, 
and,  as  we  believe,  a  lady  of  irreproachable  character,  had 
for  some  time  been  sit  the  head  of  a  female  boarding  school, 
in  the  town  of  Canterbury,  Connecticut,  when  m  the  au 
tumn  of  1832,  a  pious  colored  female  applied  to  her  for 
admission  into  her  school,  stating  that  she  wanted  "  to  get 
a  little  more  learning — enough  if  possible  to  teach  colored 
children."  After  some  hesitation,  Miss  Crandall  consented 
to  admit  her,  but  was  soon  informed  that  this  intruder  must 
be  dismissed,  or  that  the  school  would  be  greatly  injured. 
This  threat  turned  her  attention  to  the  cruel  prejudices 
and  disadvantages  "under  which  the  blacks  are  suffering, 
and  she  resolved  to  Open  a  school  exclusively  for  colored 
girls.  It  has  been  thought  expedient  'to  doubt  the  philan 
thropy  of  this  resolution,  and  to  attribute  it  to  pecuniary 
motives.  Whatever  may  have  been  her  motives,  and  pecu 
niary  ones  would  riot  have  been  unlawful,  she  had  a  perfect 
right  to  open  a  school  for  pupils  of  any  color  whatever,  and 
had  not  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  been  perverted, 
this  attempt  to  instruct  the  poor,  the  friendless,  and  the 
ignorant,  would  have  met  with  applause  instead  of  con 
tumely.  She  discontinued  her  school,  and  in  February, 
-1833,  gave  public  notice  of  her  intention  tc  open  one  for 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  CANTERBURY.  31 

colored  girls.  This  notice  excited  prodigious  commotion 
in  the  town  of  Canterbury.  That  black  girls  should  pre 
sume  to  learn  reading,  and  writing,  and  music,  and  geogra 
phy,  was  past  all  bearing.  Committee  after  committee 
waited  on  Miss  Crandall,  to  remonstrate  against  the  intend 
ed  school,  but  to  no  purpose.  More  efficient  means  were 
found  necessary  to  avert  the  impending  calamity,  and  a 
legal  town  meeting  was  summoned  to  consider  the  awful 
crisis.  At  this  meeting  resolutions  were  passed,  expressing 
the  strongest  disapprobation  of  the  proposed  school,  and 
the  preamble  declared  that  "  the  obvious  tendency  of  this 
school  would  be  to  collect  within  the  town  of  Canterbury, 
large  numbers  of  persons  from  other  -States,  whose  charac 
ters  and  habits  might  be  various  and  unknown  to  us,  there 
by  rendering  insecure  the  persons,  property,  and  reputa 
tions  of  our  citizens."  Had  this  extreme  nervous  appre 
hension  of  danger,  been  excited  in  the  good  people  of 
Canterbury,  by  the  introduction  of  some  hundreds  of  Irish 
laborers  into  their  village  to  construct  a  rail  road  or  canal, 
we  should  still  have  thought  their  temperament  very  pecu 
liar  ;  but  when  we  find  them  thus  affecting  to  tremble  not 
merely  for  their  property,  but  for  their  perso7is  and  reputa 
tions,  at  the  approach  of  fifteen  or  twenty  "young  ladies 
and  little  misses  of  color,"  we  confess  we  are  astonished 
that  the  collected  wisdom  of  these  people  was  not  able  to 
frame  an  argument  against  the  school,  less  disgraceful  to 
themselves. 

Andrew  T.  Judson,  Esq.  acted  as  clerk  to  this  meeting, 
and  supported  the  resolutions  in  a  speech,  in  whi«h  he  is 
reported  to  have  said,  "  that  -should  the  school  ,go  into 
operation,  their  sons  and  daughters  would  be  forever  ruined, 
and  property  no  longer  safe."  For  his  part,  he  was  not 
willing  for  the  honor  and  welfare  of  the  town,  that  even 
one  corner  of  it  should  be  appropriated  to  such  a  purpose 
After  the  example  which  New  Haven  had  set,  he  continued, 
"  shall  it  be  said  that  we  cannot,  that  we  dare  not  resist  ?" 
Mr.  Judson  farther  stated,  that  they  had  "  A  LAW  which 
should  prevent  that  school  from  going  into  operation." 

The  resolutions  of  the  town  meeting,  as  became  so  grave 
a  matter,  were  communicated  to  Miss  Crandall  by  the 
**'  civil  authority  and  selectmen,"  but  strange  as  it  may  seem, 


32  PROCEEDINGS  IN  CANTERBURY. 

that  lady  stood  less  in  dread  of  them,  than  they  did  of  the 
"  young  ladies  of  color,"  for  she  refused  to  retreat  fronrthe 
ground  she  had  taken. 

The  example  of  New  Haven, -we  have  ^seen,  was  held  up 
to  the  people  of  Canterbury  by  Mr.  Judson,  for  their  en 
couragement,  and  as  an  earnest  of  their  ultimate  success. 
8ti!l  the  cases  were  not  exactly  similar.  *'  The  civil  autho> 
rity -and  selectmen"  of  Canterbury,  had  not  the  imposing 
array  of  power  and  influence  displayed  by-"  the  Mayor. 
Aldermen,  Common  Council, -and  freemen  of  the  city  of 
New  Haven."  The  latter,  by  the  mere  expression  of  their 
opinion,  had  prevented  the  establishment  of  a  college  for 
colored  youth  ;  the  former  were  set  at  naught  by  an  unpro 
tected  female.  Some  means  more  efficacious  than  the  ful- 
minations  of  a  town  meeting  were1,  therefore,  next  to  be 
tried.  Mr.  Judson  had  indeed  a  certain  LAW  in  reserve, 
but  it  was  necessary  that  certain  influences  should  be  pre 
viously  brought  into  action,  before  a  civilized  and  Christian 
people  could  be  induced  to  tolerate- the  application  of  that 
law.  Colonization,  as  already  remarked,  had  taken  a  deep 
hold  on  the  affections  of  the  people  of  Connecticut.  Their 
most  eminent  men  had  enrolled  themselves  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Society.  To  this  powerful  association  recourse  was 
now  had.  On  the  22d  March,  1833,  the  "  civil  authority 
and  selectmen"  of  Canterbury  made  their  "  APPEAL  TO  THE 
AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY."  In  this  most  extra 
ordinary  paper,  they  expatiate  on  the  benevolence  of  the 
Society  towards  the  colored  population,  and  deplore  the 
opposition  it  encounters  from  certain  individuals  who  have 
formed  "the  Anti-Slavery  Society."  These  men,  they  as 
sert,  wish  to  admit  the  blacks  "into  the- bosom  of  our  so 
ciety,"  and  would  "justify  intermarriages  with  the  white 
people."  They  then  recite  their  own  grievances,  detail 
the  proceedings  of  their  town-meeting,  dwell  on  Miss  Cran- 
dall's  pertinacity  in  pursuing  her  own  plans,  express  their 
horror  of  abolition  principles,  and  state  that  Mr.  Garrison 
had  said  that  the  excitement  in  Canterbury  "is  one  of  the 
genuine  flowers  of  the  Colonization  garden  ;"  and  they  add, 
"  Be  it  so,  we  APPEAL  to  the  American  Colonization  So- 
e-iety,  to  which  our  statement  is  addressed— we  appeal-to 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  CANTERBURY.  33 

every  philanthropist  and  to  every  Christian  !"  Mr.  Judson' s 
name  appears  at  the  head  of  the  signers  to  the  appeal. 

Had  Miss  Crandall  appealed  to  the  Society  in  behalf  of 
her  school,  she  would  probably  and  very  properly  have  been 
told  that  the  subject  of  her  school  was  not  embraced  in  the 
constitutional  objects  of  the  Society  4  and  may  we  not  ask, 
if  the  Society  has  no  right  to  encourage,  has  it  any  right  to 
discourage  the  establishment  of  schools  of  any  description 
whatever  ?  In  the  singleness  of  its  object  it  has  often  been 
compared  to  the  Bible  Society ;  what  would  have  been 
thought  of  such  an  appeal  to  the  American  Bible  Society? 
How  the  appeal  was  answered  we  shall  presently  see. 

Having  thus  identified  their  cause  with  that  of  the  Colo 
nization  Society,  and  secured  the  sympathy  of  its  nume 
rous  and  powerful  friends  in  Connecticut,  Mr.  Judson  and 
his  associates  proceeded  to  further  operations.  Foiled  in 
their  attempts  to  persuade  or  intimidate,  they  now  resolved 
on  coercion.  On  the  first  April,  another  town-meeting 
was  convened,  at  which  it  was  "  Voted  that  a  petition  in 
behalf  of  the  town  of  Canterbury,  to  the  next  General  As 
sembly,  be  drawn  up  in  suitable  language,  deprecating  the 
evil  consequences  of  bringing  from  other  towns  and  other 
States  people  of  color  for  any  purpose,  and  more  especially 
for  the  purpose  of  disseminating  the  principles  and  doctrines 

Opposed  tO  THE  BENEVOLENT  COLONIZATION  SYSTEM,  pray 
ing  said  assembly  to  pass  and  enact  such  laws  as  in  their 
wisdom  will  prevent  the  evil"  Mr.  Judson,  with  others, 
was  appointed  a  Committee  to  prepare  the  petition,  and  to 
request  other  towns  to  forward  similar  petitions.  The  ma 
lignity  of  this  vote  is  equalled  only  by  its  absurdity.  The 
desired  law  is  to  prevent  the  evil  of  blacks  passing  not  only 
from  other  States,  but  other  towns.  Every  black  citizen  of 
Connecticut  is  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  town  in  which  the 
law  happens  to  find  him,  and  he  may  not  travel  into  the  ad 
joining  town  for  "  any  purpose,"  and  all  this  especially  to 
prevent  interference  with  "  the  benevolent  Colonization 
system." 

Did  the  Colonization  Society  protest  against  such  an 
outrage  being  committed  in  its  behalf — did  it  indignantly 
disclaim  all  connexion,  all  sympathy  with  men,  who  in  its 
name,  were  striving  to  perpetrate  such  abominable  tyranny? 


0-4  PROCEEDINGS  IN  CANTERBURY. 

It  k  not  known,  that  in  any  way  whatever,  it  has  ever  ex 
pressed  its  disapprobation  of  these  proceedings.  Certain  it 
is,  that  the  effect  of  the  "  appeal"  and  of  this  vote,  was  not 
such  as  to  induce  the  Canterbury  gentlemen  to  falter  in 
their  career — we  have  seen  that  Mr.  Judson  had  a  LAW, 
which  was  to  arrest  the  school.  When  the  "  appeal"  had 
been  before  the  public  just  one  month,  the  selectmen  re 
solved  to  avail  themselves  of  this  law. 

Among  the  pupils  of  Miss  Crandall,  was  a  colored  girl 
about  seventeen  years  of  age,  who  had  come  from  Rhode- 
Island  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  school.  The  pursuit 
of  knowledge  under  discouraging  difficulties  has  rarely  fail 
ed  to  excite  applause  ;  and  the  virtuous  struggles  of  the 
poor  and  obscure  to  improve  and  elevate  themselves,  claim 
the  sympathy  of  Christian  benevolence.  In  the  present  in 
stance  we  behold  a  youthful  female,  of  a  despised  and  de 
pressed  race,  attempting  to  emerge  from  the  ignorance  and 
degradation  into  which  she  had  been  cast  by  birth  ;  and 
abandoning  her  home  and  friends,  and  travelling  to  another 
State,  applying  for  instruction  to  the  only  seminary  in  the 
whole  country  open  to  receive  her.  And  now  let  us  see 
what  sympathy  this  poor  and  defenceless,  but  innocent  and 
praiseworthy  girl,  experienced  from  the  admirers  of  "  the 
benevolent  Colonization  system."  On  the  day  after  her 
arrival,  she  was  ordered  by  the  selectmen  to  leave  the  town. 
This  order,  as  illegal  as  it  was  inhumane,  was  disregarded  ; 
and  on  the  22nd  April,  Mr.  Judson  and  his  fellow  function 
aries  instituted  on  behalf  of  the  town,  a  suit  against  her 
under  an  old  vagrant  act  of  Connecticut,  and  a  writ  was 
issued  to  the  sheriff,  to  require  her  appearance  before  a  Jus 
tice  of  the  Peace.  The  writ  recited,  that  according  to  the 
statute  she  had  forfeited  to  the  town  $1.62  for  each  day 
she  had  remained  in  it,  since  she  was  ordered  to  depart ; 
and  that  in  default  of  payment,  she  WAS  TO  BE  WHIPPED 

ON  THE   NAKED   BODY   NOT  EXCEEDING  TEN   STRIPES,   UnleSS 

she  departed  within  ten  days  after  conviction.  The  barba 
rous  and  obsolete  law  under  which  this  suit  was  brought, 
.was  intended  to  protect  towns  from  the  intrusion  of  pau 
pers  who  might  become  chargeable.  The  friends  of  the 
school  had  offered  to  give  the  selectmen  bonds  to  any 
amount,  to  secure  the  town  from  all  cost  on  account  of  the 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  CANTERBURY.  35> 

pupils  ;  and  of  course  this  suit  was  a  wicked  perversion  ol 
the  law,  and  the  plaintiffs  ought  to  have  been  indicted,  for 
a  malicious  prosecution  under  color  of  office.  With  equal 
propriety  might  the  civil  authority  of  New  Haven  warn  a 
student  in  Yale  College  from  New  York  to  leave  the  cityr 
and  on  his  refusal,  order  him  to  be  whipped  on  the  naked 
body  as  a  vagrant  pauper. 

About  the  time  of  the  return  of  this  writ,  the  Legisla 
ture  of  Connecticut  assembled,  and  so  successfully  had  the 
Canterbury  persecution  been  identified  with  Colonization, 
that  a  law  was  passed  to  suppress  the  school,  and  all  others 
of  a  similar  character.  Its  preamble  declared  that  "  at 
tempts  have  been  made  to  establish  literary  institutions  in 
this  State  for  the  instruction  of  colored  persons  belonging 
to  other  States  and  countries,  which  would  tend  to  the  great 
increase  of  the  colored  population  of  this  State,  and  there 
by  to  the  injury  of  the  people."  The  act  provides,  that 
every  person,  who  shall  set  up  or  establish  any  school, 
academy,  or  literary  institution,  for  the  instruction  or  edu 
cation  of  colored  persons  who  are  not  inhabitants  of  Con 
necticut  ;  or  who  shall  teach  in  such  school,  or  who  shall 
board  any  colored  pupil  of  such  school,  not  an  inhabitant  of 
the  State,  shall  forfeit  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  first  of 
fence,  two  hundred  dollars  for  the  second,  and  so  on,  doub 
ling  for  each  succeeding  offence,  unless  the  consent  of  the 
civil  authority,  and  select  men  of  the  town,  be  previously 
obtained. 

Mr.  Jud son's  late  attempt  to  enforce  the  whipping  law, 
reminded  the  Legislature  of  the  propriety  of  abolishing  that 
relic  of  barbarism,  and  it  was  accordingly  repealed,  and 
thus  were  the  backs  of  Miss  Crandall's  pupils  saved  from 
the  threatened  laceration. 

It  is  painful  and  mortifying  to  reflect  on  the  law  ob 
tained  by  Mr.  Judson  and  his  associates,  for  the  suppression 
of  the  school,  and  which  has  very  generally  received  the 
title  of  "  the  Connecticut  Black  A-ct"  It  is  an  act  alien 
to  the  habits-,  the  character,  the  religion  of  Connecticut. 
It  is  an  act  which  neither  policy  nor  duty  can  vindicate. 
It  is  an  act  which  will  afford  its  authors  no  consolation  in 
the  prospect  of  their  final  account,  and  which  their  child- 
ten  will  blush  to  remember. 


36  ACT  OF  CONNECTICUT  LEGISLATURE. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  Connecticut  Legislature,  about 
to  pass  a  law,  for  the  discouragement  of  learning,  should 
wish  for  an  excuse;  nor  that  they  should  find  themselves 
constrained  to  invent  one.  Miss  Crandall  had  fifteen  or 
twenty  girls  in  her  school,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
Legislature  had  ascertained  how  many  of  them  had  come 
from  other  States,  nor  that  they  had  inquired  into  the 
amount  of  injury  sustained  by  the  citizens  of  Canterbury 
in  their  "  persons,  property,  arid  reputations,"  from  these 
"misses  of  color  ;"  and  yet  they  unhesitatingly  assert,  that 
the  "  increase"  of  the  colored  population  in  the  State  oc 
casioned  by  such  schools,  would  be  "  great ;"  and  that 
such  increase  would  tend  to  the  "  injury  of  the  people.'' 
To  test  the  truth  of  these  two  assertions,  let  it  be  recol 
lected,  first,  that  no  evidence  existed  that  any  other  semi 
nary  for  blacks  was  at  this  time  contemplated  in  Corinec 
ticut ;  and  that  the  free  colored  people  are,  as  a  class,  sunk 
in  abject  poverty,  and  that  very  few  of  them  have  the 
means  of  sending  their  children  from  other  States  into  Con 
necticut,  and  there  maintaining  them  at  school ;  and,  se 
condly,  that  no  portion  of  this  population  would  be  so  lit 
tle  likely  to  occasion  "injury  to  the  people,"  as  those  who 
were  placed  at  a  religious  school,  and  instructed  in  morals 
and  literature.  As  to  the  sincerity  of  the  apprehensions 
felt  by  the  Legislature,  let  it  be  further  recollected,  that  the 
law  is  intended  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  such  blacks  only 
as  might  come  for  the  honorable  and  virtuous  purpose  of 
education,  while  not  the  slightest  impediment  is  opposed  to 
the  introduction  of  cooks,  waiters,  scullions,  shoeblacks, 
&c.,  in  any  number.  The  best  are  excluded,  the  worst 
freely  admitted. 

We  have  seen  that  Colonizationists  regard  all  attempts 
to  elevate  the  free  blacks,  as  an  interference  with  their  syb- 
tem,  and  the  Black  Act  is  admirably  calculated  to  prevent 
such  attempts.  Connecticut  closes  her  schools  to  blacks 
from  New  York  and  elsewhere.  If  this  is  right,  and  what 
State  more  religious  than  Connecticut,  other  States  may 
be  expected  to  follow  her  example.  Hence  no  seminary, 
in  any  one  State,  for  the  instruction  of  the  blacks,  can  be 
founded  by  their  joint  contributions  ; — from  the  academies, 
boarding  schools,  and  colleges  of  the  whites,  they  are  al- 


ACT  OF  CONNECTICUT  LEGISLATURE.  37 

ready  excluded  ;  of  course,  they  are — doomed  to  perpetual 
ignorance.  Let  each  State,  it  is  said,  instruct  its  own 
youth.  It  is  well  for  Yale  College  that  this  doctrine  is  ap 
plied  only  to  black  aspirants  for  knowledge. 

In  1828,  an  African  Mission  School  was  established  at 
Hartford,  for  the  purpose  of  educating  colored  youth,  "  to 
be  selected  from  our  numerous  African  population,"  and, 
of  course,  from  other  States  besides  Connecticut.  It  was 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Epis 
copal  Church  in  the  United  States.  No  outcry  was  ex 
cited  against  this  school ;  no  citizen  of  Hartford  trembled 
for  his  property,  person,  or  reputation.  Why  not  ?  Be 
cause  the  school  was  auxiliary  to  Colonization,  and  those 
instructed  in  it  were  to  be  sent  out  of  the  country. 

No  sooner  was  the  passage  of  the  Black  Act  known  in 
Canterbury,  than  this  triumph  over  justice,  humanity,  and 
constitutional  liberty,  was  celebrated  by  a  feu  de  joie,  and 
the  ringing  of  bells.  Nor  was  the  act  permitted  to  remain 
a  dead  letter.  Miss  Crandall  was  prosecuted  under  it,  and 
being  unable  to  procure  bail,  was  committed  to  PRISON. 
The  next  day  bail  was  obtained,  and  she  returned  to  her 
school.  Well,  indeed,  might  the  public  press,  with  some 
memorable  exceptions,  execrate  the  Black  Act ;  and  well, 
indeed,  might  Mr.  Judson  feel  impatient,  under  the  obloquy 
that  was  falling  upon  him,  as  the  chief  instigator  and  ma 
nager  of  the  prosecution.  "  A  friend  in  need,  is  a  friend 
indeed."  And  now  was  the  time  when  he  needed  and  re 
ceived  that  countenance,  for  which  he  had  appealed  to  the 
Colonization  Society.  It  was  not  probably  expected  that 
the  managers  of  the  parent  Society  would  officially  notice 
the  appeal,  but  a  mode  was  devised,  on  the  part  of  Con* 
necticut  Colonizationists,  of  .publicly  expressing  their  ap 
probation  of  Mr.  Judson's  conduct.  On  the  anniversary  ot 
the  declaration  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal,"  and  a 
few  days  after  Miss  Crandall' s  imprisonment,  the  Windham 
County*  Colonization  Society  convened,  and  appointed  Mr. 
Judson  their  orator  and  agent,  thus  proclaiming  that  HE 
was  the  man  they  delighted  to  honor.  Another  response  to 
the  appeal,  was  in  a  few  days  heard  from  New  York.  The 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  New  York  City 

*  The  county  in  which  Canterbury  is  situated. 
4 


38  TRIAL  OF  MISS  CRANDALL* 

Colonization  Society,  is  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Com* 
mercial  Advertiser,  and  its  columns  were  loaded  with  cri 
minations  of  Miss  Crandall,  and  vindications  of  the  Black 
Act.  "  The  inhabitants  of  Canterbury"  were  declared  to 
be  "  as  quiet,  peaceable,  humane,  and  inoffensive  people,  as 
can  be  named  in  the  United  States."  The  constitutionality 
of  the  Black  Act  was  broadly  maintained,  and  it  was  averred 
to  be  "just  such  a  law  in  its  spirit,  if  not  in  its  provisions, 
as  we  are  in  the  constant  practice  of  enforcing  in  this  city, 
to  prevent  our  charitable  institutions  from  being  filled  to 
overflowing  with  black  paupers  from  the  South,  and  white 
paupers  from  Europe."  Of  the  gentleman  who  drafted  the 
Black  Act,  the  public  were  assured,  "  a  warmer  heart  than 
his  throbs  in  few  bosoms,  and  the  African  race  has  no 
firmer  friend  than  him."* 

On  the  23d  of  August,  Miss  Crandall  was  brought  to 
trial.  The  crime  with  which  she  was  charged,  was  fully 
proved.  One  of  the  witnesses  testified:  "The  school  is 
usually  opened  and  closed  with  prayer  ;  the  Scriptures  are 
read  and  explained  in  the  school  daily  ;  portions  are  com 
mitted  to  memory  by  the  pupils,  and  considered  part  of 
their  education." 

The  orator  and  agent  of  the  Windham  Colonization 
Society,  opened  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution, 
and  to  this  gentleman,  it  is  believed,  belongs  the  distinction 
of  having  been  the  first  man  in  New  England  to  propound 
publicly  the  doctrine,  that  free  colored  persons  are  not  citi 
zens.  This  doctrine  was  essential  to  the  validity  of  the 
Black  Act,  since  by  the  federal  Constitution,  citizens  of  one 
State  are  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  citizenship  in  every 
other  State;  and  the  Act  prohibited  colored  persons 
from  other  States  from  going  to  school  in  Connecticut,  a 
prohibition  palpably  unconstitutional,  if  free  blacks  are  citi 
zens.  The  presiding  Judge  submitted  the  cause  to  the 
jury  without  comment ;  and  some  of  them  having  scruples 
about  Mr.  Judson's  new  doctrine,  refused  to  agree  in  a  ver 
dict  of  guilty,  and  a  new  trial  was  consequently  ordered. 
In  the  ensuing  October,  Miss  Crandall  was  again  placed 
at  the  bar,  while  the  vice  president  of  the  New  Haven 
Colonization  Society,  Judge  Daggett,  took  his  seat  on  the 

*.  Com.  Adv.  July  16  and  29,  1833. 


TRIAL  OF  MISS  CRANDALL.  39 

bench.  The  cause  against  the  defendant  was  again  argued 
by  the  Windham  Colonization  orator  and  agent ;  and  Judge 
Daggett,  warned  by  the  result  of  the  preceding  trial,  ot 
the  necessity  of  enlightening  the  consciences  of  the  jury, 
delivered  an  elaborate  charge.  Rarely  has  any  Judge  en 
joyed  such  an  opportunity  of  defending  the  poor  and  father 
less,  of  doing  justice  to  the  afflicted  and  needy,  of  delivering 
the  spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor.  The  me 
rits  of  the  cause  turned  on  the  simple  question  whether  free 
blacks  are  citizens  or  not.  We  might  have  presumed  that 
a  Judge,  aware  of  his  solemn  responsibility,  would  have 
prepared  himself  for  the  decision  of  this  momentous  ques 
tion,  by  the  most  patient  and  thorough  research.  On  the 
opinion  he  might  pronounce,  would  perhaps  rest  the  future 
education,  comfort,  freedom,  and  not  unlikely,  everlasting 
happiness  of  multitudes  of  his  fellow  men.  Under  such  cir 
cumstances,  the  public  had  a  right  to  expect,  that  he  would 
resort  to  every  source  of  information  ;  that  he  would  con 
sult  the  opinions  of  eminent  statesmen  and  jurists,  investi 
gate  the  constitutional  history  of  the  rights  of  these  people  ; 
study  the  proceedings  of  Congress  in  relation  to  them,  and 
bring  together  such  a  mass  of  facts,  such  an  array  of  ar 
guments,  as  would  prove  that  his  decision,  whatever  it 
might  be,  was  the  result  of  conscientious  inquiry,  and  that 
the  bench  was  elevated  far  above  the  prejudices  arid  pas 
sions,  which  had  brought  to  the  bar  an  innocent  and  be 
nevolent  female. 

The  Judge,  in  his  charge,  expresses  himself  in  the  fol 
lowing  words  :*  "  Are  the  free  people  of  color  citizens  ? 
I  answer,  no."  The  grounds  on  which  this  answer  is  given, 
appear  to  be  the  following  : 

1st.  "  They  are  not  so  styled  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  In  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which 
fixes  the  basis  of  representation,  there  was  an  opportunity 
to  have  called  them  citizens,  if  they  were  so  considered. 
But  that  makes  free  persons  (adding  three  fifths  of  all  other 
persons)  the  basis  of  representation  arid  taxation." 

The  words  of  the  Constitution  referred  to  by  the  Judge, 

*  We  quote  from  a  newspaper  report  of  the  charge,  and  have  no  knp\Y» 
ledge  that  the  accuracy  of  the  report  has  ever  been  denied, 


40  JUDGE  DAGGETT  S  CHARGE. 

are,  (Art.  1.  Sec.  3.)  "  Representatives  and  direct  taxes 
shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several  States  which  may 
be  included  within  this  Union,  according  to  their  respective 
numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the 
whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those  bound  to 
service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  three  fifths  of  all  other  persons." 

Now,  it  seems,  free  colored  persons  cannot  be  citizens, 
because  they  are  not  in  this  section  so  called  ;  but  unfortu 
nately  free  white  persons  are  not  called  citizens,  and  they 
also  must  therefore  be  disfranchised  !  Apprentices  ("  those 
bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,")  are  likewise  inclu 
ded  among  free  persons,  and  they  also  cannot  be  citizens  ! 

Had  free  white  persons  been  spoken  of  as  citizens,  and 
free  black  persons  only  as  "  persons,"  then  indeed  there 
would  have  been  some  force  in  the  Judge's  first  reason  ; 
but  as  there  is  not  the  slightest  reference  in  the  Constitu 
tion  to  the  complexion  of  the  "  free  persons,"  we  cannot 
understand  the  argument,  and  proceed,  therefore,  to  his 

2d  reason.  "  They  (free  negroes)  are  not  so  styled,  (citi 
zens,)  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  the  laws  of  Congress,  or  of 
any  of  the  States." 

It  would  thus  seem  that  men  with  black  skins  cannot  be 
citizens,  unless  the  laws  expressly  declare  them  to  be  so. 
So  far  as  we  are  aware,  men  with  red  hair  are  not  styled 
citizens  in  the  laws  of  Congress,  or  of  any  of  the  States. 

3d  reason.  "  His  Honor  then  read  from  Kent's  Com 
mentary,  Vol.  II.  p.  210,  a  note  in  which  the  commentator 
speaks  of  the  degraded  condition  of  the  blacks,  and  the  dis 
abilities  under  which  they  labor,  and  thence  inferred  that, 
in  Kent's  opinion,  they  were  not  citizens." 

Had  the  Judge  found  it  convenient  to  consult  the  text  of 
this  learned  and  independent  jurist,  the  following  passage 
would  have  saved  him  the  trouble  of  drawing  an  inference. 

"  The  article  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
declaring  that  citizens  of  each  State  were  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States, 
applies  to  natural  born  or  duly  naturalized  citizens,  and  if 
they  remove  from  one  State  to  another,  they  are  entitled  to 
the  privileges  that  persons  of  the  same  description  are  en 
titled  to  inlthe  State  to  which  the  removal  is  made,  and  to 


JUDGE  DAGGETT'S  CHARGE.  41 

none  other.  If,  therefore,  for  instance,  free  persons  of 
color  are  not  entitled  to  vote  in  Carolina,  free  persons  of 
color  emigrating  there  from  a  Northern  State  would  not  be 
entitled  to  vote."  Here  is  an  express  admission  of  the 
ci  izenship  of  free  colored  persons,  and  their  case  is  cited 
to  illustrate  the  rights  of  citizens  under  the  federal  Consti 
tution.  If  a  free  black,  according  to  the  Commentary, 
moving  from  one  State  to  another,  is,  under  the  federal 
Constitution,  entitled  only  to  such  privileges  as  the  free 
blacks  in  the  latter  State  enjoy,  it  follows  irresistibly  that 
he  is  entitled  to  such  privileges  as  the  free  blacks  do  there 
enjoy.  Now,  the  free  blacks  of  Connecticut  enjoy  a  legal 
right  to  go  to  school,  and  to  any  school  that  will  receive 
them  ;  hence,  according  to  Chancellor  Kent,  a  free  black 
removing  from  another  State  into  Connecticut,  has  the 
same  right,  and  hence  the  Black  Act  is  plainly  arid  palpably 
unconstitutional. 

4th  "Another  reason  for  believing  that  people  of  color 
are  not  considered  citizens,  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  when 
the  United  States  Constitution  was  adopted,  every  State 
except  Massachusetts  tolerated  slavery.11 

Why  a  free  black  man  cannot  be  a  citizen,  because 
another  black  man  is  a  slave,  is  a  problem  we  confess  our 
selves  unable  to  solve. 

Such  are  the  arguments,  and  the  only  ones  adduced  by 
the  Judge,  to  support  his  portentous  decision — a  decision 
which  tends  to  strip  the  free  negro  of  his  property  and 
rights ;  renders  him  an  alien  in  the  land  of  his  birth  ;  ex 
poses  him  to  contumely  and  oppression,  and  prepares  the 
way  for  his  forcible  deportation  to  the  shores  of  Africa. 

In  order  to  do  full  justice  to  Judge  Daggett,  it  may  be 
proper  to  notice  his  answers  to  objections,  since  these  an 
swers  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  negative  arguments.  To 
the  assertion  that  free  blacks  own  vessels  which  participate 
iii  the  peculiar  privileges  of  American  shipping,  and  that 
they  sue  in  the  United  States  courts,  he  simply  replied,  that 
these  claims  have  never  been  settled  by  judicial  decisions. 
To  the  argument  that  free  blacks  may  be  guilty  of  high 
treason,  he  replied,  "  So  may  any  person  who  resides  un 
der  the  government,  and  enjoys  its  protection,  if  he  rises 
up  against  it." 

4* 


42  FREE  BLACKS  CITIZENS. 

Having  thus  fairly  stated  the  Judge's  arguments,  we  will 
now  take  the  liberty  of  presenting  a  few  facts  having  an 
important  bearing  on  this  question  ;  facts,  be  it  remember 
ed,  that  were  accessible  to  the  Judge,  had  he  thought  it 
worth  while  to  look  for  them. 

By  the  fourth  of  the  "  Articles  of  Confederation  "  it  was 
provided,  that  "  the  free  inhabitants  of  these  States  shall 
be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  free  citi 
zens  in  the  several  States."  While  these  articles  were  un 
der  consideration  in  Congress,  it  appears  from  the  journals, 
that  on  the  25th  June,  1778,  "  the  delegates  from  South 
Carolina  moved  the  following  amendment  in  behalf  of  their 
State — '  In  Article  fourth,  between  the  words  free  inhabit 
ants,  insert  WHITE.'  Passed  in  the  negative — Ayes  2  States, 
Nays  8  States — 1  State  divided."  Here  then  was  a  solemn 
decision  of  the  revolutionary  Congress,  that  free  negroes 
should  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
free  citizens  in  the  several  States.  Judge  Daggett  thinks 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  did  not  regard 
free  blacks  as  citizens,  because  in  1788  all  the  States  with 
one  exception  tolerated  slavery  ;  yet  in  1778,  Congress  de 
cided  that  free  blacks  were  citizens,  although  all  the  States, 
without  one  exception,  tolerated  slavery.  Ten  years  after 
this  decision,  the  new  Constitution  was  formed,  and  the 
clause  respecting  citizenship  in  the  several  States  was 
transferred  to  it  from  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  with 
slight  verbal  alterations.  That  the  clause  embraced  free 
negroes,  at  the  time  it  was  transferred,  was  settled  by  the 
rote  we  have  quoted — no  words  were  added  to  exclude 
them  ;  no  intimation  was  given  that  the  new  Constitution 
was  disfranchising  thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands,  who 
Congress  had  declared  were  invested  with  all  the  rights 
and  immunities  of  free  citizens.  No  desire  was  expressed 
to  disfranchise  these  people,  and  in  the  debates  on  the  Con 
stitution,  this  disfranchisement  was  never  alluded  to  either 
in  the  language  of  praise  or  of  censure, — and  for  more  than 
forty  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  no  sus 
picion  existed  that  it  had  divested  the  free  blacks  of  the 
citizenship  they  enjoyed  under  the  confederation,  till  the 
discovery  was  made  by  the  agent  and  orator  of  the  Wind- 
ham  Colonization  Society,  and  juridically  announced  by 


FREE  BLACKS  CITIZENS.  43 

the  Vice  President  of  the  New  Haven  Colonization  So 
ciety. 

Judge  Daggett  "  is  not  aware  that  free  blacks  are  styled 
citizens  in  the  laws  of  Congress  or  of  any  of  the  States  /" 
How  laborious  has  been  his  search  for  such  laws,  we  shall 
now  see.  Probably  the  Judge  will  admit  that  when  the 
laws  speak  of  male  citizens,  they  recognize  the  existence  of 
female  citizens ;  and  most  Judges  would  admit,  that  where 
the  law  speaks  of  white  citizens,  they  recognize  the  exist 
ence  of  citizens  who  are  not  white. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  1792,  for  organizing  the  militia, 
provides  for  the  enrolment  of  "free  white  male  citizens." 

The  act  of  Congress  of  1803,  **  to  prevent  the  importa 
tion  of  certain  persons  into  certain  States,  when  by  the 
laws  thereof  their  admission  is  prohibited,"  enacts  that 
masters  and  captains  of  vessels  shall  not  "import  or  bring, 
or  cause  to  be  imported  or  brought,  any  negro,  mulatto,  or 
other  person  of  color,  not  being  a  native,  a  CITIZEN  or  regis 
tered  seaman  of  the  United  States,"  &c. 

The  Constitution  of  Judge  Daggett's  own  State,  limits 
the  right  of  suffrage  to  "  free  white  male  citizens."  Why 
male  citizens  if  there  are  no  female  citizens ;  and  why 
white  citizens,  if  there  can  be  no  colored  ones  ?  Seven  or 
eight  State  Constitutions,  in  the  same  manner,  recognize 
the  existence  of  colored  citizens.  Had  the  Judge  extended 
his  inquiries  into  State  laws,  to  those  of  Massachusetts,  he 
would  have  found  one  prohibiting  any  negro,  "  other  than  a 
CITIZEN  of  the  United  States,"  or  a  subject  of  the  Emperor 
of  Morocco,  from  tarrying,  in  the  Commonwealth,  longer 
than  two  months.  Had  he  taken  the  trouble  to  consult  the 
statute  book  of  New  York,  he  would  have  found  the  fol 
lowing  clause  in  the  act  relative  to  elections,  viz.  :  "  If  the 
person  so  offering  to  vote  be  a  colored  man,  the  following 
oath  shall  be  tendered  to  him.  'You  do  swear  (or  affirm) 
that  you  are  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  that  for  three 
years  you  have  been  a  CITIZEN  OF  THIS  STATE,'  "  &c. 
Revised  Statues,  I.  134. 

Had  the  Judge  condescended  to  look  into  the  debates  of 
the  New  York  Convention  of  1821,  on  the  question  of  ad 
mitting  the  free  blacks  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  he  would 
have  discovered  to  his  astonishment,  that  the  New  York 


44  FREE  BLACKS  CITIZENS. 

lawyers  and  judges  had  no  hesitation  in  admitting  these 
people  to  be  citizens,  whatever  might  be  their  objections  to 
permitting  them  to  vote.  He  would  have  found  Chancellor 
Kent  earnestly  contending  for  their  rights  to  citizenship  in 
other  States  under  the  federal  Constitution.  He  would 
have  found  Rufus  King,  (no  mean  authority)  concluding  an 
argument  in  their  behalf  with  these  words — "  As  certainly 
as  the  children  of  any  white  man  are  citizens,  so  certainly 
the  children  of  the  black  man  are  citizens." 

Had  the  Judge  opened  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  he  would  have  met  with  a  clause  in  the  Article 
respecting  the  elective  franchise,  declaring,  "  No  man  of 
color,  unless  he  shall  have  been  three  years  a  CITIZEN 

OF   THIS   STATE,"   &C. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1820,  Governor  Clinton,  of 
New  York,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  demanding  the  immediate  liberation  of  Gil 
bert  Horton,  a  colored  man,  as  "A  CITIZEN  of  this  State," 
he  having  been  imprisoned  in  Washington  as  a  fugitive 
slave. 

In  every  State  in  the  Union,  we  believe  without  one  ex 
ception,  a  native  free  born  negro  may  legally  take,  hold, 
and  convey  real  estate.  Will  Judge  Daggett  deny  this  to 
be  an  attribute  of  citizenship  ?*  Will  he  maintain  that  any 
but  citizens  may  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  ?  But  in 
eight  or  ten  States  free  negroes  may  legally  vote.  True  it 
is,  that  in  others  this  privilege  is  denied  to  them,  but  it  is 
not  true  that  none  are  citizens  who  cannot  vote.  The  act 
of  Congress  respecting  naturalization  provides,  that  in  a 
certain  case,  the  widow  and  children  of  a  deceased  alien 
"  shall  be  citizens  of  the  United  States." 

Impressed  colored  sailors  have  been  claimed  by  the  Na 
tional  government  as  "  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;"  and 
colored  men  going  to  Europe  have  received  passports 
from  the  department  of  State,  certifying  that  they  were  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States. 

The  proposed  Constitution  of  the  new  State  of  Missouri 

*  Real  estate  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  the  value  of  50,000  dollars  was 
lately  devised  to  a  free  colored  man  in  that  city,  but  according  to  the  Judge 
he  is  not  a  citizen,  and  of  course  cannot  take  by  devise.  If  so,  the  pro 
perty  must  go  to  the  heir  at  law,  or  escheat  to  the  State. 


FREE  BLACKS  CITIZENS.  45 

required  the  Legislature  to  pass  such  laws  as  might  be 
necessary  "  to  prevent  free  negroes  and  mulattoes  from 
coming  to  settle  in  the  State,  under  any  pretext  whatever." 
The  Legislature  of  New  York,  in  reference  to  this  pro 
vision,  on  the  15th  November,  1820,  ««  Resolved,  if  the  pro 
visions  contained  in  any  proposed  Constitution  of  a  new 
State  deny  to  any  CITIZENS  of  the  existing  States  the  privi 
leges  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  such  new  State,  that 
such  proposed  Constitution  should  not  be  accepted  or  con 
firmed,  the  same,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Legislature,  being 
void  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States."  This  re 
solution  was  adopted  in  high  party  times,  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote. 

The  Constitution  being  submitted  to  Congress,  the  article 
excluding  colored  citizens,  was  deemed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  a  violation  of  the  national  compact,  and 
that  body  refused  to  receive  Missouri  into  the  Union.  A 
compromise  was  at  last  agreed  to,  and  Congress  admitted 
Missouri  on  the  express  condition  that  the  offensive  clause 
in  her  Constitution  should  never  authorize  any  law  by 
which  any  citizen  of  any  of  the  States  should  be  excluded 
from  the  enjoyment  of  any  of  the  privileges  and  immunities 
to  which  such  citizen  is  entitled  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  that  the  Legislature  of  Missouri  should 
by  a  solemn  Act  declare  their  assent  to  this  condition.  The 
Legislature  passed  the  Act  required,  and  thereupon  the 
State  became  a  member  of  the  Union.  Yet  Judge  Daggett 
is  not  aware  of  any  Act  of  Congress  recognizing  free  blacks 
as  citizens ! 

Admit  free  negroes  to  be  men,  and  to  be  born  free  in 
the  United  States,  and  it  is  impossible  to  frame  even  a 
plausible  argument  against  their  citizenship.  The  only  ar 
gument  on  this  point,  we  have  ever  met  with,  in  which  the 
conclusion  is  legitimately  deduced  from  the  premises,  is  by 
a  late  writer,*  who  maintains  that  the  negroes  are  a  distinct 
race  of  animals.  Now  it  must  be  conceded,  that  the  negro, 
if  not  a  human  being,  is  not  a  citizen.  We  recommend 

*  The  author  of  "Evidences  against  the  views  of  the  Abolitionists,  con 
sisting  of  physical  and  moral  proofs  of  the  natural  inferiority  of  the  ne 
groes?'  New  York,  1833. 


46  FREE  BLACKS  CITIZENS. 

the  following  reasoning,  to  the  future  judicial  apologists  of 
the  Black  Act. 

"His  (the  negro's)  lips  are  thick — his  zygomatic  mus 
cles  large  and  full — his  jaws  large  and  projecting — his  chin 
retreating — his  forehead  low,  flat  and  slanting,  and  as  a  con 
sequence  of  this  latter  character,  his  eye  balls  are  very  pro 
minent,  apparently  larger  than  those  of  white  men.  All  of 
these  peculiarities  at  the  same  time  contributing  to  reduce 
his  facial  angle  almost  to  a  level  with  the  BRUTE.  If  then 
it  is  consistent  with  science  to  believe,  that  the  mind  will 
be  great  in  proportion  to  the  size  and  figure  of  the  brain, 
it  is  equally  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  acknowledged 
meanness  of  the  negro's  intellect  only  coincides  with  the 
shape  of  his  head ;  or  in  other  words,  that  his  want  of  ca 
pability  to  receive  a  complicated  education,  renders  it  im 
proper  and  impolitic  that  he  should  be  allowed  the  privileges 
of  CITIZENSHIP  in  an  enlightened  country."  P.  25,  26. 
The  author  is  an  ultra  Colonizationist,  and  the  conclusion 
to  which  he  arrives  is,  "  let  the  blacks  be  removed,  nolens 
volcns,  from  among  us." 

We  have  dwelt  the  longer  on  the  Connecticut  decision, 
on  account  of  its  immense  importance  to  a  numerous  class 
of  our  fellow  countrymen.  The  victims  of  a  cruel  preju 
dice,  and  of  wicked  laws,  they  especially  claimed  the  aid 
and  sympathy  of  the  humane,  when  striving  to  elevate  them 
selves  by  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge.  But  Judge 
Daggett's  doctrine  crushes  them  to  the  earth.  Denounced 
by  a  powerful  Society,  extending  its  influence  over  every 
part  of  our  country,  as  "  NUISANCES,"  and  judicially  declared 
not  to  be  citizens,  they  are  delivered  over  to  the  tormentors, 
bound  hand  and  foot.  If  not  citizens,  they  may  be  dispos 
sessed  of  their  dwellings,  for  they  cannot  legally  hold  real 
estate-— they  may  be  denied  the  means  of  a  livelihood,  and 
forbidden  to  buy  and  sell,  or  to  practise  any  trade,  for  they 
are  no  longer  protected  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  Nay,  they  may  be  expelled  from  town  to  town, 
arid  from  State  to  State,  till  finding  no  resting  place  for  the 
soles  of  their  feet,  they  "CONSENT"  to  embark  for  Africa. 

However  inconclusive  we  are  disposed  to  regard  Judge 
Daggett's  arguments,  they  were  satisfactory  to  the  jury,  and 
a  verdict  was  given  against  Miss  Crandall.  The  cause  was 


NEW-HAVEN  PETITION.  47 

removed  to  the  Connecticut  Court  of  Errors,  where  all  the 
proceedings  were  set  aside  on  technical  grounds.  Certain 
of  the  "  quiet,  peaceable,  humane,  and  inoffensive  people 
of  Canterbury,"  tired  with  the  law's  delay,  determined  on 
ejecting  the  school  by  a  summary  process,  and  accordingly 
mobbed  the  house  by  night,  and  smashed  in  the  windows. 
It  was  now  discovered,  that  it  was  the  "  persons"  of  inoffen 
sive  females,  and  not  of  Mr.  Judson  and  his  associates,  that 
were  endangered,  and  the  school  was  abandoned, — thus 
were  the  efforts  of  the  admirers  of"  the  benevolent  system  of 
Colonization"  crowned  with  entire  success. 

Soon  after  Judge  Daggett's  decision,  a  most  inflamma 
tory  petition  to  the  Connecticut  legislature,  was  circulated 
in  New-Haven.  We  quote  from  a  printed  copy.  "  If 
they  (the  negroes)  have  rights,  we  humbly  hope  it  is  not 
yet  too  late  to  presume  that  the  white  man  also,  the  only 
legal  native  American  citizen,  whom  we  shall  ever  consent 
to  acknowledge,  may  be  permitted  to  suggest  that  he  has 
some  rights. — If  he  (the  white  man)  purchases  a  piece  of 
land,  the  first  negro,  who  locates  near  him,  deteriorates  its 
value  from  20  to  50  per  cent.  ;  for  who  will  have  a  negro 
neighborhood,  or  live  in  unceasing  fear  of  theft  and  tres 
passes.  The  white  man  cannot  labor  upon  equal  terms  with 
the  negro — he  is  compelled  to  yield  the  market  to  the  Afri 
can,  and  with  his  family  ultimately  becomes  the  tenant  of 
an  Alms-house,  or  is  driven  from  the  State  to  seek  a  better 
lot  in  the  western  wilds.  THUS  HAVE  THOUSANDS  of  our 
most  valuable  citizens  been  baiiished  from  home  and  kin 
dred,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  most  debased  race  that 
the  civilized  world  has  ever  seen."  The  petitioners,  as 
might  be  supposed,  are  Colonizationists.  "  If  the  negro 
cannot  consistently  with  our  interest  or  our  feelings  be  ad 
mitted  to  the  same  rights  that  we  enjoy,  let  him  seek  a 
country  where  he  will  find  those  who  are  his  equals  ;  let  us 
unite  in  aiding  him  to  reach  that  country" 

It  has  never  been  denied,  that  good  men  belong  to  the 
Colonization  Society ;  and  it  ought  not  to  be  denied,  that 
even  good  men  are  fallible,  and  subject  to  erroneous  opinions 
and  unwarrantable  prejudices.  To  us  it  appears  unques 
tionable,  that  the  facts  developed  in  the  preceding  pages, 


48  COMPULSORY  EMIGRATION. 

prove  a  tendency  in  the  Society  to  excite  in  the  community, 
a  persecuting  spirit  towards  the  free  blacks.  That  the 
pious,  and  respectable  members  of  the  Society,  detest  the 
horrible  outrages,  recently  committed  upon  these  people  in 
New- York,  Philadelphia,  and  elsewhere,  it  would  be  both 
foolish  arid  wicked  to  doubt ;  and  yet  no  one  who  candidly 
and  patiently  investigates  the  whole  subject,  can  fail  to  be 
convinced  that  these  outrages  never  would  have  happened, 
had  the  Society  never  existed.  The  assertion  is  not 
hazardous,  that  of  the  multitudes  composing  the  negro 
mobs,  there  was  not  an  individual,  less  disposed  than  the 
Canterbury  town  meeting,  to  laud  the  "  benevolent  Colo 
nization  system."  Every  wretch  who  participated  in  beat 
ing,  and  plundering  free  negroes,  would  rejoice  in  their  ex 
pulsion  from  their  country,  and  in  the  Society  he  beholds 
an  instrument  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  wishes. 

But  how  is  it  possible  that  the  best  and  the  worst  of  men, 
can  unite  in  supporting  the  same  institution  ?  In  the  first 
place,  these  good  men,  as  is  abundantly  evident  from  their 
own  confessions,  are  actuated  by  motives  of  supposed  pub 
lic  policy,  as  well  as  benevolence,  in  promoting  the  coloni 
zation  of  people  whom  they  regard  as  nuisances ;  and  in 
the  second  place,  there  are  in  the  constitution,  three  talis- 
manic  words,  which  through  the  influence  of  existing  preju 
dices  have  blinded  the  eyes  of  these  good  men  to  the  prac 
tical  operation  of  the  Society  on  the  colored  people.  The 
words  are  "WITH  THEIR  CONSENT."  It  is  speciously  ar 
gued,  if  the  free  blacks  consent  to  go  to  Africa,  why  not 
send  them  ?  if  they  do  not  wish  to  go,  they  are  at  liberty  to 
remain.  This  argument  seems  for.  the  most  part,  to  have 
benumbed' the  consciences  and  understandings  of  Goloniza- 
tionists,  as  to  the  cruel  persecution  which  their  Society  ne 
cessarily  encourages.  They  would  be  horrified  at  the  idea 
of  their  agents  scouring  the  country,  and  seizing  men,  wo 
men,  and  children,  placing  them  on  the  rack,  till  as  joint 
after  joint  was  dislocated,  the  suffering  wretches  consented 
to  go  to  Africa  ;  and  yet  the  Society  feels  no  compunction 
in  countenancing  legal  oppression  having  the  same  ulti 
mate  object  in  view,  and  in  transporting  negroes  whose  con 
sent  they  well  know,  has  been  extorted  by  the  most  abomi- 


COMPULSORY  EMIGRATION.  49t 

nable  persecution.  Many  will  feel  disposed  to  deny  the 
truth  of  these  assertions;  but  not,  we  trust,  after  seeing  the 
proof  of  them,  which  we  will  now  proceed  to  offer. 

We  have  already  adverted  to  the  cruel  luws  by  which 
these  people  are  oppressed,  and  kept,  purposely  kept,  in 
ignorance  and  degradation.  Now  let  it  be  recollected,  that 
with  but  few  exceptions,  these  laws  have  been  either 
enacted,  or  are  kept  in  force  by  legislatures,,  which  have 
formally  and  in  their  legislative  capacity,  passed  resolutions 
in  favor  of  the  Society.  Fourteen  States  have  thus  avowed 
their  attachment  to  Colonization.  Now  had  these  States, 
including  Connecticut,  Ohio,  and  several  of  the  slave  States, 
repealed  their  laws  against  the  free  blacks,  and  forborne  to 
enact  new  ones;  their  sincerity  in  approving  a  plan  for  the 
removal  of  these  people  with  their  consent  would  have  been 
less  questionable,  than  it  is  now,  when  they  persist  in  a 
course  of  policy  well  calculated  to  coerce  that  consent. 
The  Society  appears  to  be  a  particular  favorite  with  the 
slave  States,  with  the  exception  of  South  Carolina,  where 
its  true  character  seems  to  have  been  misunderstood* 

Now  hear  the  acknowledgment  of  a  Southern  writer* 
We  have  before  us  the  fourth  edition,  1834,  of  "A  Trea 
tise  on  the  Patriarchal  System  of  Society  :"  by  a  Florida 
slave  holder.  It  is  a  treatise,  in  sober  earnestness,  on  tho 
means  of  perpetuating  slavery,  and  increasing  its  profits. 
The  author  says,  p.  12 — "  Colonization  in  Africa  has  been 
proposed  to  the  free  colored  people :  to  forward  which,  a 
general  system  of  persecution  against  them,  upheld  from 
the  pulpit,  has  been  legalized  throughout  the  Southern 
States."  The  writer  does  not  explain  his  allusion  to  the 
Southern  pulpit ;  but  we  may  judge  of  its  influence  on  the 
condition  of  the  free  blacks,  from  the  avowal  already 
quoted  from  the  Southern  Religious  Telegraph,  of  its 
repugnance  to  these  people  being  taught  to  read,  because 
such  an  acquirement  would  be  an  inducement  with  them  to 
remain  in  this  country ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  better 
they  were  treated  here,  the  less  likely  would  they  be  to  con 
sent  to  go  to  Africa. 

The  Legislatures  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  it  is  well 
known,  have  made  large  appropriations  for  Colonization, 
and  yet  these  Legislatures  are  among  the  most  malignant 


COMPULSORY  EMIGRATION. 

persecutors  of  the  free  blacks.  The  original  bill,  making  tJfwr 
Virginia  appropriation,  contained  a  clause  for  the  compul' 
sory  transportation  of  free  blacks.  Let  it  be  recollected, 
that  the  Colonization  Society  has  ever  been  the  peculiar 
favorite  of  Virginia,  and  that  her  most  distinguished  citi- 
zfens  have  been  enrolled  among  its  officers ;  and  let  us  now 
see  how  Colonization  has  been  promoted  in  that  State.  On 
a'  motion  to  strike  out  the  compulsory  clause,  Mr.  Brodnax 
thus  expressed  himself  against  the  motio-n  : 

"IT  IS  IDLE  TO  TALK  ABOUT  NOT    RESORTING  TO  FORCE. 

Every  body  must  look  to  the  introduction  of  force  of  some' 
kind  or  other.  If  the  free  negroes  are  willing  to  go,  they 
will  go  ;  if  not  willing,  THEY  MUST  BE  COMPELLED  TO  GO. 
Some  gentlemen  think  it  politic  not  now  to  insert  this 
feature  in  the  bill,  though  they  proclaim  their  readiness  to 
resort  to  it  when  it  becomes  necessary ;  they  think,  that 
for  a  year  or  two,  a  sufficient  number  will  consent  to  go, 
and  THEN  TriE  REST  CAN  BE  COMPELLED.  For  my  part,  I 
deem  it  better  to  approach  the  question  and  settle  it  at 
once,  and  avow  it  openly.  The  intelligent  portion  of  the 
free  negroes  krt'ow  Very  well  what  is  going  on.  Will  they 
not  see  your  debates  ?  "Will1  they  »ot  see  that  COERCION  is 
ULTIMATELY  TO  BE  RESORTED  TO.  I  have  already  expressed 
it  as  my  opinion,  that  few,  very  few,  will  voluntarily  eon- 
sent  to  emigrate,  if  no  compulsory  measures  be  adopted. 
Without  it,  you  will  still,  no  doubt,  have  applicants  for 
removal  equal  to  your  means.  Yes,  sir,  people  who  will 
ftot  only  consent,  b-ut  beg  you  to  deport  them.  But  wrhat 
sort  of  corisent-^-a,  consent  extorted  by  a  species  of  oppres 
sion,  calculated  to  render  their  situation  among  us  insup 
portable  !  Many  of  those  who  have  been  already  sent  off, 
went  with  their  avowed  consent,  but  under  the  influence 
of  a  more  decided  compulsion,  than  any  which  this  bill 
holds  out.  I  will  not  express  in  its  fullest  extent,  the  idea 
I  entertain  of  what  has  been  done,  or  what  enormities  will 
be  perpetrated  to  induce  this  class  of  persons  to  leave  the 
State*  Who  does  not  know  that  when  a  free  negro,  by 
crime  or  otherwise,  has  rendered  himself  obnoxio-us  to  a 
Neighborhood,  how  easy  it  is  for  a  party  to  visit  him  one 
night,  take  him  from  his  bed  and  family,  and  apply  to 
him  the  gentle  admonition  of  a  severe  flagellation,  to  mduee 


COMPULSORY  EMIGRATION.  5 

feim  to  go  away.  In  a  few  nights  the  dose  can  be  repeated 
perhaps  increased,  until,  in  the  language  of  the  physicians, 
quantum  suff.  has  been  administered,  to  produce  the  de 
sired  operation,  and  the  fellow  becomes  perfectly  willing  to 
move  away.  I  have  certainly  heard,  ,(if  incorrectly,  the 
gentleman  from  Southampton  will  put  me  right)  that  all 
the  large  car  go  of  emigrants,  lately  transported  from  that 
country  to  Liberia,  all  of  -whom  professed  to  be  willing1  to 
go,  were  rendered  so  by  som.e  such  ministration  as  I  have 
described.  Indeed,  sir,  all -of  us  look  to  FORCE  of  some 
kind  or  other,  direct  or  indirect,  moral  or  physical,  legal 
or  illegal." 

Another  member,  Mr.  Fisher,  in  opposing  the  motion, 
said,  "  If  we  wait  till  the  free  negroes  consent  to  leave  the 
State,  we  shall  wait  until  time  is  no  more.  They  never 
will  give  their  consent.  He  believed  if  the  compulsory 
principle  were  stricken  out,  this  class  would  be  forced  to 
leave  by  the  harsh  treatment  of  the  whites" 

The  compulsory  clause  was  stricken  out,  but  we  have 
the  assurance  of  Mr.  Brodnax,  that  they  who  objected  to  it 
at  present,  were  ready  to  resort  to  force,  whenever  it  should 
become  necessary ;  and  he  tells  us,  that  all  look  to  force 
of  some  kind  or  other ;  and  he  might  have  .added,  "all  of 
us  look  to  the  Colonization  Society  as  the  instrument  by 
which  the  forcible  expulsion  of  the  free  negroes  is  to  be 
effected."  Nor  do  they  1-ook  in  vain..  At  the  very  time 
that  the  negroes  of  Southampton  were. suffering  the  barba 
rities  he  describes,  the  managers  of  the  Society  addressed 
their  auxiliaries,  urging  them  to  increased  efforts  in  raising 
funds,  and  alluding  to  the  excitement  occasioned  by  the 
insurrection  at  Southampton,  remarked,  "the  free  people 
of  color  have  awakened  from  their  slumber,  to  a  keen  sense 
of  their  situation,  and  are  Keady  ,Jn  large  numbers,  to  emi 
grate  to  the  Colpny  of  Liberia."  Address,  17th  Nov.  1831,. 

A  large  number  of  thes.e  miserable  people  did  indeed 
consent  to  go  to  Africa,  and  the  managers  well  knew  how 
their  consent  was  obtained.  "  I  warned  the  managers 
against  this  Virginia  business,"  said  Mr.  Breckenridge  in 
.his  speech  before  the  Society,  "  and  yet  they  sent  out  two 
shiploads  of  vagabonds,  not  fit  to  go  to  such  a  place,  an.(l 


62  COMPULSORY  EMIGRATION. 

that  were  coerced  away  as  truly  as  if  it  had  been  done  with 
a  cartwhip." 

Hear  the  confession  of  Mr.  Gurley,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Society,  on  this  subject — "  Our  friends  at  Norfolk  appealed 
to  us,  and  said  the  people  were  persecuted,  and  that  it  was 
a  matter  of  humanity  to  take  them.  Our  agent  said  they 
were  driven  from  the  county,  and  had  appealed  to  him,  and 
begged  to  go  to  Liberia."  Speech  before  the  Society. 

Hear  the  testimony  of  Thomas  C.  Brown  from  Liberia, 
given  in  May,  1834.  "  I  am  acquainted  with  several  fro-m 
Southampton  County,  Virginia,  who  informed  me  that  they 
received  several  hundred  lashes  from  the  patroles  to  make 
them  willing  to  go.  In  one  instance,  a  man  was  several 
times  compelled  to  witness  the  lashes  inflicted  on  his  wife, 
and  then  to  be  severely  flogged  himself.  In  another  instance, 
a  family  received  information  from  their  white  neighbors, 
that  unless  they  went  to  Liberia,  they  should  be  whipped. 
Having  no  means  of  redress,  they  were  obliged  to  go." 

Hear  the  New  York  Colonization  Society,  when  address 
ing  the  public — "  We  say  to  them  (the  free  blacks)  we 
think  you  may  improve  your  condition  by  going  thither,  but 
if  you  prefer  remaining  here,  you  will  be  protected  and 
treated  with  kindness"  Proceedings  of  New-York  CoL 
Soc.  1831. 

Hear  the  same  Society,  when  addressing  the  Legisla 
ture — "  We  do  not  ask  that  the  provisions  of  our  constitu 
tion  and  statute  book  should  be  so  modified  as  to  relieve  and 
exalt  the  condition  of  the  colored  people  while  they  re 
main  with  us.  Let  these  provisions  stand  in  ALL  THEIR 
RIGOR,  to  work  out  the  ultimate  and  unbounded  good  of 
this  people."  In  plain  English,  to  coerce  their  consent  to 
go  to  Africa.  Memorial  to  New  York  Legislature,  1832. 

We  have  seen  what  are  the  Connecticut  and  Virginia 
plans  for  promoting  Colonization- — now  for  the  Pennsyl 
vania  plan.  At  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  borough  of 
Columbia,  (Penn.)  at  the  Town  Hall,  23d  August,  1834,  the 
following,  among  other  resolutions,  were  unanimously 
passed. 

"  Resolved,  that  we  will  not  purchase  any  articles  that 
can  be  procured  elsewhere,  or  give  our  VOTE  for  any  office 


COMPULSORY  EMIGRATION.  58 

whatever,  to  any  one  who  employs  negroes  to  do  that  spe 
cies  of  labor  white  men  have  been  accustomed  to  perform. 

"Resolved,  that  the  Colonization  Society  ought  to  be 
supported  by  all  the  citizens  favQr^b.le -.to  the  removal  of  the 
blacks  from  this  country.11 

Here  we  find  the  support  of  the  Society  avowedly  cou 
pled  with  a  most  de,te$tifc>le  plan  of  persecution.  And  now 
for  the  practical  operation  of  this  meeting  of  the  friends  of 
the  "  benevolent  Colonization  system."  It  appears  from  a 
Columbia  paper,  that  ojie  or  two  flights  after  the  meeting,  a 
mob  collected,  and  partly,  tore  down  the  dwelling  of  a  black 
$ian  ;  they  then  proc.eede.d  •„ to  :,the  office  of  another  black 
man,  who  had  had  the  presumption  to  deal  in  lumber,  "  a 
species  of  labor  white  men  had  been  accustomed  to  pen- 
form,"  broke  open  the  windows  and  door,  rifleti  tbe  desk» 
scattered  the  papers  in  the  street,  and  attempted  to  overturn 
the  building.  Surely  .the  Society  may  reasonably  antici 
pate  the  consent  .of.tlje  >. blacks  to  emigrate,  when  in  Con 
necticut,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  such  cogent  arguments 
are  used  to  obtain  it.  Were  the  Society  governed,  as  it 
ought  to  be,  byfChristian  principles,  at  would, shrink  from 
encouraging  persecution  by  accomplishing  .its  object,  the 
exportation  of  its  victims.  Jt  would  say  .explicitly  to  the 
authors  of  these  atrocities,  "  you  shall  gain  nothing  by  your 
cruelty,  through  our  instrumentality.  We  will  not  en 
courage  your  farther  persecutions,  by  removing  those 
whose  consent  you  have  obtained  by  such  unjustifiable 
means  ;  we  will  not,  to  please  you, 

"  Keep  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear, 
And  break  it  to  the  hope-." 

But  alas,  it  has  virtually  given  official  notice  that  it  witi 
transport  all  whose  consent  can  be  obtained,  no  matter  by 
what  barbarity.  Hear  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Gurley,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society. 

"Should  they  (free  blacks)  BE   URGED  BY  AN-Y    STRESS 

.OF  CIRCUMSTANCES  to  s^ck  an  asylum  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  United  States,  humanity  and  religion  -will  alike  dictate 
that  they  should  be  .assisted  to  remove  and  establish  them 
selves   .in    freedom    and    prosperity  in  the  land  of    the^r 

^CHOICE." — Letter  to  gentlemen  in  New  York- 
5* 


COMTITLSORY  EMIGRATION. 

True  it  is,  the  free  blacks  have  been  rendered  by  preju 
dice  and  persecution,  an  ignorant  and  degraded  class ;  but 
they  are  still  competent  to  appreciate  the  practical  character 
of  Colonization  philanthropy. 

The  following  resolutions,  passed  by  a  meeting  of  free 
blacks  in  New  Bedford,  in  1832,  express  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  all  their  brethren  who  have  intelligence  to  form, 
or  courage  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  subject. 

"  Resolved,  that  in  whatever  light  we  view  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society,  we  discover  nothing  in  it  but  terror,  prejudice, 
and  oppression.  The  warm  and  beneficent  hand  of  philan 
thropy  is  not  apparent  in  the  system,  but  the  influence  of 
the  Society  on  public  opinion  is  more  prejudicial  to  the  in 
terests  and  welfare  of  the  people  of  color  in  the  United 
States,  than  slavery  itself. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  Society,  to  effect  its  purpose,  the  re 
moval  of  free  people  of  color  (not  the  slaves)  through  its 
agents,  teaches  the  public  to  believe  that  it  is  patriotic  and 
benevolent  to  withhold  from  us  knowledge,  and  the  means 
of  acquiring  subsistence  ;  and  to  look  upon  us  as  unnatural 
and  illegal  residents  in  this  country,  and  thus  by  the  force 
of  prejudice,  if  not  by  law,  endeavor  to  compel  us  to  em 
bark  for  Africa,  and  that  too  apparently  by  our  own  free 
will  and  consent." 

And  now  let  us  ask  what  purpose  is  to  be  answered  by 
persecuting  this  people,  and  keeping  them  ignorant  ami 
degraded  ?  Does  any  one  believe  that  they  will  ever  be 
removed  from  the  country  ?  They  now  amount  to  362,000. 
In  16  years,  2,162  have  been  sent  away,  some  at  first  volun 
tarily,  but  many  of  them  through  coercion.  But  can  cru 
elty,  be  it  ever  so  extreme,  furnish  the  Society  with  funds 
and  ships  sufficient  to  transport  such  a  multitude  ?  They 
must,  in  spite  of  Connecticut  and  Virginia  persecution,  re 
main  with  us.  And  if  they  are  to  remain  with  us,  what  con 
duct  towards  them,  do  policy  and  religion  prescribe  ?  Con 
duct  precisely  opposite  to  that  pursued  by  the  Society.  We 
must  instruct  and  elevate  them,  if  we  would  not  be  incum- 
bered  by  an  ignorant  and  depraved  population  ;  we  must 
treat  them  with  justice  and  kindness  if  we  would  avoid  the 
displeasure  of  HIM  who  has  declared,  "  Ye  shall  not  op 
press  one  another." 


CHAPTER  III. 

INFLUENCE  OF   THE    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY    ON  AFRICA- 
SUPPRESSION  OF    THE  SLAVE  TRADE. 

VERY  many,  who  now  despair  of  extirpating  slavery  by 
means  of  the  Society,  continue  to  support  it,  from  a  belief 
that  it  will  confer  rich  blessings  on  Africa.  These  antici 
pated  blessings  are  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  and 
the  diffusion  of  religion  and  civilization.  Let  us  at  present 
inquire,  how  far  the  first  may  reasonably  be  expected. 

In  the  declarations  of  the  Society,  and  its  members  on 
this  subject,  we  shall  find  an  astonishing  medley  of  igno 
rance,  rash  assertion,  and  honest  confession. 

"  Sierra  Leone  has  repaid  Africa  with  still  greater  bless 
ings  ;  her  example,  her  influence  and  efforts,  have  given 
peace  and  security  to  the  neighboring  coast ;  and  who  can 
estimate  the  extent  of  misery  prevented,  and  of  happiness 
conferred,  to  a  population  delivered  from  all  the  horrors  ol 
the  slave  trade."  Fifth  Rep.  p.  18. 

"  The  line  of  coast  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Cape  Mount, 
is  now  under  British  protection  ;  and  from  Cape  Mount  to 
Tradetown,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  the 
slave  trade  cannot  be  prosecuted  with  the  least  hope  of 
success."  Af.  Rep.  II.  p.  125 — -Editorial. 

"  Every  colony  of  civilized  inhabitants,  established  on 
that  coast,  and  resolved  to  stop  this  trade  to  the  extent  of 
its  means,  will,  at  all  events,  put  an  end  to  it  for  a  consi 
derable  distance.  The  colonies  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  of 
Liberia,  both  produce  this  effect  within  their  respective  vi 
cinities."  Judge  Blackford's  Address  to  Indiana  Coloni 
zation  Society.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  p.  66. 

Of  these  compliments  to  Sierra  Leone,  it  must  be  ob 
served,  one  is  paid  officially  by  the  Board  of  Managers, 
arid  the  other  by  the  Editor  of  the  Repository.  We  beg 
the  reader  to  keep  them  in  mind,  as  we  shall  hereafter  in 
quire  into  their  truth.  We  will  now  proceed  to  notice 
some  assertions  relative  to  the  agency  of  the  Liberia  co 
lony  in  suppressing  the  slave  trade. 


50  SLAVE  TRADE. 

"In  fact,  the  Colonization  Society  proposes  the  ONLY 
means  by  which  this  accursed  trade  can  ever  be  effectually 
stopped  ;  and,  indeed,  the  Colony  of  "Liberia,  which  this 
Society  has  planted,  has  already  freed  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  /of  that  caast  ifrom  the  ravages  -of  these  ene 
mies  of  the  •hum.aai  Jr&ce"  Address  of  J.  A.  McKinney, 
4th  July,  1830.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  p.  231. 

'"  The 'flag  that  waves  on  Cape  Montserado,  proclaims  U 
flic  slave  trader  that  there  is  one  spot,  even  in  Africa,  con* 
secrated  to  freedom,  one  spot  which  his  polluted  foot  shall 
not  tread."  Speech  of  G.  Smith,  V.  Prest.  13th  Jan. 
1831.  14th  Rep. 

"Did  we  desire  to  p«t  an  end  to  these  outrages  upon  hu 
manity,  {the  slave  trade,)  the  Colonization  Society  offers  it- 
se'lf  as  the  ONLY  efficient  means.  The  slaver  has  dared  to 
show  herself  but  once  within  the1  limits  of  Liberia,  and  then 
she  received  the  rewards  of  her  temerity."  Proceedings 
of  N.  Y.  CoZ.Soc.'1832. 

"No  slaver  now  dares  come  within  one  hundred  miles 
of  the  settlement."  Rev.  Dr.  Hawkes'  Speech  at  Col. 
Meeting  in  New  York,  Oct.  1833. 

"  In  less  than  13  years  since  its  foundation,  Liberia  con 
tains  about  3000  'free  and  happy  citizens,  who  have  re 
moved  from  oppression  and  bondage  to  the  enjoyment  of 
liberal  institutions.  The  slave  trade  has  been  UTTERLY 
DESTROYED  along  its  ENTIRE  COAST,  formerly  the  most 
frequented  mart  of  human  flesh."  Report  of  Philadelphia 
Young-  Men's  Col.  Soc.  made  24th  Feb.  '1-835,  U.  'S.  Ga 
zette,  4th  March,  1835. 

The  above  are  specimens  of  the  assertions  which  have 
been  rashly  made,  and  cre'dulously  received.  Let  us  now 
attend  to  the  honest  confessions  on  this  subject,  and  let  the 
reader  compare  them  with  the  foregoing  assertions.  That 
these  confessions  may  be  better  understood,  it  may  be 
well  to  mention,  that  in  the  remarks  accompanying  a  map 
of  Liberia,  published  in  the  6th  vol.  of  the  African  Reposi 
tory,  it  is  stated,  "  the  colony  of  Liberia  extends  from  the 
Gallinas  River  to  the  territory  of  Kroo  Settra,  a  distance 
of  about  280  miles  along  the  coast.  The  territory  at  pre 
sent,  (1830,)  under  the  actual  jurisdiction  of  the  colony,  ex 
pends  from  Grand  Cape  Mount,  to  Trade  Town,  .a  distajice 


SLATE  TRADE.  57 

of  about  150  miles."  It  appears,  from  the  map,  that  the 
last  limits  embrace  Cape  Mount,  Cape  Montserado,  on 
which  is  built  the  town  of  Monrovia,  Bushrod  Island,  Bassa 
Cove,  and  Trade  Town. 

"  The  records  of  the  colony  afford  abundant  and  unequi 
vocal  testimony  of  the  undi7tiinished  extent  and  atrocity  of 
the  slave  trade.  From  eight  to  ten,  and  even  fifteen  vessels 
have  engaged  at  the  same  time  in  this  odious  traffic,  almost 
within  reach  of  the  guns  of  Liberia,  and  as  late  as  July 
1825,  there  were  existing  contracts  for  eight  hundred 
slaves  to  be  furnished  in  the  short  space  of  four  months, 

WITHIN    EIGHT    MILES    OF     MONROVIA."         Rep.    X.    p.    44, 

1827. 

"  From  all  I  can  learn,  I  am  induced  to  believe,  that  the 
slave  trade  is  now  carried  on  at  the  Gallinas,  between  Cape 
Mount  and  Sierra  Leone,  and  to  the  leeward  of  this  place, 
to  a  greater  extent  than  it  has  been  for  many  years."  Let 
ter  from  R.  Randall,  Agent  at  Liberia,  28th  Dec.  1828. 
Af.  Rep.  V.  p.  4. 

"  Frequently  within  sight  of  the  colonial  factories, 
the  slave  traders  carry  on  their  operations.  The  slave 
trade  never  has  been  carried  on  with  more  activity,  than  it 
is  at  this  time.  There  is  established  at  Gallinas,  a  regular 
slave  agent,  who  furnishes  slaves  to  the  slave  vessels.  He 
receives  his  goods  from  trading  vessels,  and  it  is  said  prin 
cipally  from  an  American  vessel.  He  purchases  large 
numbers  of  slaves,  and  furnishes  the  slave  vessels,  who 
principally  bring  out  specie.  These  vessels  run  up  and 
down  the  coast  until  a  convenient  opportunity  offers,  when 
they  run  in  and  get  their  cargoes  of  slaves.  Some  of 
them  are  captured,  and  I  have  been  informed,  they  have 
been  bought  afterwards  by  their  original  owners,  and  that 
the  same  vessel  has  frequently  been  bought  and  sold  seve 
ral  times."  Letter  from  R.  Randall,  Agent  at  Liberia, 
Feb.  1829.  Af.  Rep.  V.  p.  148.  The  same  letter  states 
the  astounding  fact,  that  "Mamma,  the  proprietress  of 
Bushrod  Island,  just  in  front  of  Monrovia,  whose  town  is 
not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  our  settlements  on 
that  island,"  was  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  and  had  sold 
several  hundred — p.  150. 

"  It  is  painful  to  state,  that  the  managers  have  reason 


58  SLATE  TRADE. 

to  believe  that  the  slave  trade  is  still  prosecuted  to  a  great 
extent,  and  with  circumstances  of  undiminished  atrocity. 
The  fact  that  much  was  done  by  Mr.  Ashmun  to  banish  it 
from  the  territory,  under  the  colonial  jurisdiction,  is  un 
questionably  true,  but  -it  now  exists  even  on  the  territory; 
and  a  little  to  the  north  and  south  of  Liberia,  it  is  seen  in  its 
true  characters  of  fraud,  and  rapine,  and  blood."  Rep. 
XIII.  p.  13.— 1830. 

Now,  be  it  recollected,  that  it  was  after  this  official  an 
nunciation  by  the  Board  of  Managers,  that  the  slave  trade 
existed  even  on  the  territory  of  Liberia,  that  the  African 
Repository  published  without  contradiction  the  vaunt  of 
Mr.  M'Kinney  already  quoted,  that  the  Colony  had  freed 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  coast  from  the  slave 
trade  ! 

"  I  hope  the  Board  will  adopt  some  more  effectual 
measures  for  suppressing  the  slave  trade  within  the  territory 
of  Liberia.  Since  the  death  of  Don  Miguel  of  Bassa, 
Peter  Blanco,  a  Spanish  slave  trader,  for  some  years  a 
resident  in  the  Gallinas,  has  opened  a  slave  factory  at 
GRAND  CAPE  MOUNT.  Such  a  thing  ought  not  to  be,  as  it 
is  only  forty-five  miles  from  here.  I  am  sorry  to  remark, 
that  this  abominable  traffic  is  carried  on  with  the  utmost 
activity,  all  along  the  coast.  Capt.  Parker,  during  his 
trading  at  the  Gallinas  of  about  three  weeks,  saw  no  less 
than  nine  hundred  shipped."  Letter  from  A.  D.  Williams., 
Agent  of  the  Society  at  Liberia, — IQth  Sept.  1830.  Af. 
Rep.  VI.  p.  275. 

*'  With  undiminished  atrocity  and  activity  is  this  odious 
traffic  now  carried  on  all  along  the  African  coast;  slave  fac 
tories  are  established  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  co 
lony,"  &c.  Rep.  XIV.  p.  11.— 1831. 

"  The  cursed  practice  of  slave  trading,  I  regret  to  say, 
is  still  carried  on  between  this  and  Sierra  Leone."  Letter 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Cox-;  Monrovia,  8th  of  April,  1833.  Af.  Rep. 
IX.  p.  253. 

"  Bassa  Cove  was  purchased*  by  Governor  Pinney  from 

*  Bassa  Cove  is  situated  between  Monrovia  and  Trade  Town,  and  has 
therefore  been  for  years  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  colony ;  of  course  the 
.purchase  alluded  to,  must  have. been  of  the  possession  of  the  native  oceu- 
.  pants. 


SLAVE  TRADEv  50 

King  Joe  Harris,  the  native  sovereign  of  that  fine  harbor. 
It  was  bought  at  a  moderate  price,  and  without  a  drop  of 
spirits.  The  negociation  was  effected  in  November  last,. 
1834,  and  affords  peculiar  satisfaction  to  the  friends  of  hu 
manity,  inasmuch  as  no  less  than  500  SLAVES  had  been 
shipped  from  there  in  October."  N.  Y.  Commercial  Ad 
vertiser,  lltk  March,  1835,  The  same  fact  is  stated  in  the 
"  Colonization  Herald,"  4th  April,  1835. 

Si*eh  are  the  refutations  furnished  by  the  Society 
itself,  of  all  its  boasts  about  suppressing  the  slave  trade  ; 
and  yet  we  are  told  that  the  Society  is  the  ONLY  means  of 
putting  an  end  to  the  traffic !  It  seems  never  to  occur  to 
these  gentlemen,  that  the  abolition  of  slavery  would,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  put  an  immediate  and  total  stop  to  the 
trade.* 

But  in  what  way  does  the  Society  expect  to  destroy  this 
commerce?  By  planting  colonies  of  ignorant  and  depraved 
negroes  on  the  African  coast.  Every  slave  factory  is  of  itself 
a  colony,  and  for  the  most  part,  of  intelligent  white  men  ; 
and  yet  it  is  supposed,  that  negro  colonists,  who,  when  in 
America,  were  "  the  most  depraved  of  the  human  race," 
will  be  too  virtuous  to  yield  to  the  temptations  of  a  lucra 
tive  commerce.  Why,  should  the  free  negroes  of  America, 
who  Mr.  Clay  assures  us,  are  "  of  all  descriptions  of  our 
population,  the  most  corrupt,  depraved,  and  abandoned," 
have,  when  removed  to  Liberia,  a  greater  abhorrence  for 
the  iniquity  of  the  slave  trade,  than  their  brethren  of  Sierra 
Leone  ?  If  the  trade  has  been  actually  promoted  by  the 
latter  colony,  why  will  it  be  suppressed  by  the  former? 

"  The  acting  Attorney  General  of  Sierra  Leone  de 
clared,  1812,  on  the  trial  of  certain  persons  for  the  infrac 
tion  of  the  British  abolition  laws,  that  the  town  of  Sierra 
Leone  was  '  the  heart  from  which  all  the  arteries  and  veins 
of  the  Slave  trading  system,  had  for  years  been  animated 
and  supplied.'  "  Dr.  Thorpe's  views  of  the  present  increase 
of  the  slave  trade,  p.  71. 

The  following  facts  are   gathered  from   documents  pub- 

*  To  what  extent  the  importation  of  slaves  in  the  United  States  is  now 
carried,  we  are  ignorant.  In  1819,  Mr.  Middleton  of  South  Carolina,  stated 
on  the  floor  of  Congress,  that,  in  his  opinion,  13tOOO  Africans  were  annually 
smuggled  into  the  Southern  States,  Mr.  Wright  of  Virginia,  estimated 
th«  number  at  15,000. 


60  SLAVE    TRADE. 

lished  by  the  British  Parliament  in  1832.  Chief  Justice 
Jeffcott  of  Sierra  Leone,  in  1830,  delivered  a  charge  to  the 
Grand  Jury,  in  which  he  declared  that  he  had  received 
credible  information,  that  persons  in  the  colony  were  en 
gaged  in  aiding  and  abetting  the  slave  trade,  and  fitting  our 
ships  for  the  trade.  He  asserted,  that  the  colony  "  esta 
blished  for  the  express  purpose  of  suppressing  this  vile 
traffic,  was  made  a  mart  for  carrying  it  o?i."  He  also 
stated,  that  within  the  last  ten  years,  twenty-two  thousand 
Africans  had  been  located  in  the  colony  by  the  British 
Government,  at  an  expense  of  nearly  seven  millions  ster 
ling,  and  that  now  there  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  colony 
above  seventeen  or  eighteen  thousand  men  !  These  extra 
ordinary  and  appalling  declarations,  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  the  British  Government,  who  appointed  a  Commis 
sion  to  inquire  into  their  truth.  The  Commissioners,  in 
their  report,  dated  the  26th  October  of  the  same  year,  state 
that,  from  the  testimony  taken  before  them,  "  they  cannot 
but  conclude,  that  the  nefarious  system  of  kidnapping  has 
prevailed  in  this  colony  to  a  much  greater  extent,  than  was 
even  alluded  to  in  the  charge  of  the  Chief  Justice."  From 
the  testimony  published  with  the  report,  it  appears  that  the 
slave  vessels  are  in  the  habit  of  bringing  out  specie,  for  the 
purchase  of  supplies  on  the  coast ;  and  that  "  Mr.  Hilary 
Teague,  who  resides  at  the  American  settlement  at  Liberia, 
at  Cape  Mesurado,  near  the  Gallinas,  and  who  trades  be 
tween  that  place  (Gallinas,  a  slave  factory)  and  Sierra  Le 
one,  purchasing  some  goods  from  a  Mr.  Lake,  a  merchant 
in  the  colony,  produced  a  bag  containing  about  one  thou 
sand  dollars,  on  which  was  marked  the  name  of  the  Spanish 
schooner  Manzanares.  This  vessel  took  in  her  cargo  at 
the  Gallinas,  and  was  subsequently  condemned  as  a  slave 
ship." 

Here  we  find  a  colonist  of  Liberia,  trading  at  a  slave 
factory,  and  afterwards  exhibiting  1000  dollars  in  specie, 
received  in  all  human  probability  from  a  slave  ship.  It  is 
surely  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that  petty  colonial  mer 
chants  will  refuse  to  sell  supplies  to  slave  ships  for  specie. 
Indeed  every  new  colony  on  the  coast,  will,  while  slavery 
continues,  give  new  facilities  to  this  accursed  commerce ; 
nor  can  the  government  at  home,  prevent  avaricious  and 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE    SOCIETY  ON  AFRICA.  61 

unprincipled  colonists  from  participating  in  it.  No  one- 
can  question  the  desire  of  Great  Britain  to  purge  Sierra 
Leone  of  this  enormity,  and  yet  we  find  the  following 
statement  in  the  English  Monthly  Review,  for  May, 
1833.  "  One  of  the  Schoolmasters  in  Sierra  Leone,  has 
been  tried  for  selling  some  of  his  scholars.  There  were 
lately  upwards  of  one  hundred  liberated  Africans,  who 
were-  kidnapped  from  Sierra  Leone,  and  were  conveyed 
to  a  place  near  the  banks  of  the  river  Pongos.  Here  they 
were  detained,  till  an  opportunity  occurred  of  re-shipping 
them  as  slaves." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

INFLUENCE   OF  THE    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY   ON    AFRICA — - 
DIFFUSION   OF  CIVILIZATION    AND   CHRISTIANITY. 

ALTHOUGH  the  Society  is  not  a  missionary  institution, 
builds  no  churches,  employs  no  ministers,  and  distributes 
no  Bibles  or  tracts,  yet  it  has  persuaded  the  public,  that 
Liberia  is  a  missionary  establishment,  and  the  radiating 
point,  from  which  a  flood  of  light  and  holiness  is  to.  spread 
over  Africa.  So  confidently  and  constantly  has  the  mis~ 
s-ionary  influence  of  the  Society  been  asserted,  that  many 
of  the  members  unfeignedly  believe  it,  and  their  contribu 
tions  are  lavished,  and  their  prayers  are  offered  for  the  re 
generation  of  Africa  by  emigrants,  who,  when  in  the  United 
States,  were  denounced  as  "  a  curse  and  contagion  wherever 
they  reside."  Let  us  attend  to  the  stupendous  objects  the 
Society  proposes  to  accomplish. 

"It  would  illuminate  a  CONTINENT.  It  would  publish 
the  name  of  Christ  on  the  dark  mountains  of  Africa,  and 
the  burning  sands  of  the  desert.  It  would  kindle  up  holi 
ness  and  hope  among  uncounted  tribes,  whose  souls  are  as 
black  with  crime  and  misery,  as  are  the  forms  of  matter 
that  veil  them."  Af.  Rep.  I.  164.  Editorial. 

"  The  little  band  at  Liberia,  who  are  spreading  over  the 
wilderness  around  them,  a  strange  aspect  of  life  and  beauty, 
are  in  every  sense  a  missionary  station.  Everv  ship  freight* 
G 


CHARACTER  OF   THE  COLONY. 

ed  front  our  shores  with  their  suffering  kindred,  will  be' 
freighted  also  with  the  heralds  of  the  cross.  You  will  see 
the  light  breaking  in  upon  one  and  another  dark  habitation 
of  cruelty.  The  night  of  heathenism  will  depart.  One 
tribe  after  another  will  come  to  the  light  of  Zion,  and  the 
brightness  of  her  rising.  Ethiopia  will  awake  and  rise  from 
the  dust,  and  look  abroad  on  the  day  and  stretch  forth  her 
hand  to  God.  The  light  will  spread  and  kindle  and  brighten 
till  ALL  THE  FIFTY  MILLIONS  of  Africa  are  brought  to  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God."  Address  to  the  Ken 
tucky  Col.  Society  by  Mr.  Breckenridge. 

"They  (the  emigrants)  go  to  unchain  MILLIONS  of 
slaves  fettered  in  the  bondage  of  death."  Af.  Rep.  IX.  198. 

"  Like  the  star  in  the  East,  which  announced  the  Sa 
vior  to  the  astonished  Magi,  it  (the  Society)  points  to  the 
advent  of  the  same  Redeemer,  coming  in  the  power  of  his 
spirit  to  roll  away  the  darkness  of  a  thousand  generations." 
Speech  of  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Vice  President. 

"  This  Society  proposes  to  add  another  regenerated  CON 
TINENT  to  our  globe,  and  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  MIL 
LIONS  to  the   family  of  civilized  man."     Speech  of  Elliot 
Cresson  before  the  Society.     Af.  Rep.  IX.  360. 

The  number  of  Agents  to  be  employed,  are  proportioned 
fk>  the  mighty  work  to  be  achieved. 

"  The  Society  proposes  to  send  out  not  one  or  two  pious 
members  of  Christianity  into  a  foreign  land,  but  to  trans 
port  annually,  for  an  indefinite  number  of  years  in  one  view 
of  its  scheme,  6,000,  in  another  56,000  missionaries  of  the 
descendants  of  Africa  itself,  to  communicate  the  benefits  of 
our  religion  and  the  arts."  Mr.  Clay's  speech  before  Ken 
tucky  Col.  Society.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  24. 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  missionaries  are  to  commu 
nicate  the  benefits  of  both  religion  and  the  arts,  and  they 
Are  to  be  taken  from  two  classes.  The  6,000  are  to  be  the 
annual  increase  of  the  free  negroes ;  the  56,000  are  to  be 
manumitted  slaves.  The  character  of  the  first  class  is  thus 
given  by  Mr.  Clay,  in  the  same  speech  in  which  he  pro 
poses  their  employment: 

"  Of  all  descriptions  of  our  population,  and  of  either 
portion  of  the  African  race,  the  free  people  of  color  are  by^ 
for,  as  a  class,  the  most  corrupt,  depraved,  and  abandoned.'" 


CHARACTER   OF  THE  COLONY.  $£ 

.A s  this  seems  rather  an  unpromising  character  for  teachers 
of  religion,  we  presume  this  portion  are  to  be  confined  to 
instruction  in  the  arts ;  and  that  the  explanation  of  religious 
mysteries,  and  the  inculcation  of  moral  duties,  :are  to  be 
entrusted  to  the  56,000  just  released  from  bondage.  Of  the 
peculiar  opportunities  afforded  them  by  the  laws  of  the 
slave  States,  for  fitting  themselves  for  their  new  vocation, 
we  may  speak  hereafter.  Of  this  "  great  company  of 
preachers,"  about  three  thousand  have  already  set  up  their 
tabernacle  at  Liberia.  We  might  naturally  suppose,  that 
a  colony  of  missionaries  would  be  "  a  holy  city,"  a  sort  of 
New  Jerusalem,  and  such  we  are  assured  .jt  is.  >Ve  have 
heard  of  "  the  poetry  of  philanthropy,"  as  applied  to  the 
sympathy  expressed  by  abolitionists  for  the  sufferings  of 
the  slaves  ;  the  following  extracts  prove,  that  there  is  a 
poetry  of  Colonization  which 

"  Can  give  to  airy  nothing 
A  local  habitation  and  a  name. 

"  It  (the  colony)  is  already  to  the  African  tribes,  like  a 
city  set  upon  a  hill,  which  cannot  be  hid.  A  thousand 
barbarians,  who  have  long  made  merchandize  of  their 
brethren,  and  been  regarded  themselves  as  the  objects  of  a 
bloody  and  accursed  traffic,  come  within  its  gates,  and  are 
taught  the  doctrine  of  immortality, — the  religion  of  the 
Son  of  God:1  8th  Report,  p.  14.— 1825. 

Here  we  have  a  solemn  and  official  annunciation  by  the 
Board  of  Managers,  of  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  facts 
ever  recorded  in  the  annals  of  missionary  exertions.  It 
appears  from  official  documents,  that  at  the  date  of  this 
report,  the  whole  number  of  emigrants  could  not  have  been 
more  than  242,  and  had  probably  been  reduced  by  death 
below  that  number  ;  and  of  this  number,  a  large  portion 
were,  of  course,  women  and  children.  Yet  this  little  band 
of  Christian  missionaries,  just  escaped  from  the  ignorance 
and  vice  in  which  t  they  had  been  enveloped  in  America, 
and  still  struggling  for  existence  in  a  sickly  climate,  and 
amid  all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  a  recent  settlement 
in  a  savage  land  ;  casting  aside  the  fear  of  man,  and  with  a 
faith  almost  miraculous  in  divine  protection,  admit  within 
their  gates  an  army  of  barbarians,  four  times  the  numjber  qf 


f  CHARACTER    OF  THE  COLONY. 

the  whole  of  their  little  community  ;  barbarians  too,  who 
had  long  been  engaged  in  a  bloody  and  accursed  traffic, 
making  merchandize  of  their  brethren;  and  these  barba 
rians  suddenly  divested  of  their  savage  character,  sit  hum 
bly  at  the  feet  of  the  newly  arrived  messengers  of  Heaven, 
and  the  natives  of  Africa,  receive  instruction  in  the  doctrine 
of  immortality,  and  the  religion  of  the  Son  of  God,  from 
lips  that  had  never  uttered  any  other  language,  than  broken 
English  !  It  is  singular  that  in  the  subsequent  documents  of 
the  Society,  we  hear  nothing  farther  of  these  thousand  bar 
barians.  How  many  became  converts  to  the  religion  in 
which  they  were  instructed  ;  how  long  their  attendance  on 
the  missionaries  was  continued,  and  why  it  was  afterwards 
totally  suspended,  are  points  on  which  no  information  has 
been  vouchsafed  to  us. 

It  is  natural  we  should  wish  to  know  more  of  these  won 
derful  teachers,  and  fortunately  we  are  presented  with  the 
following  picture  of  them  by  an  eye  witness. 

"  The  holy  Author  of  our  religion  and  salvation,  has 
made  the  hearts  of  a  large  proportion  of  these  people,  the 
temples  of  the  divine  Spirit.  I  have  seen  the  proudest  and 
profanest  foreigners  that  ever  visited  the  colony,  trembling 
with  amazement  and  conviction,  almost  literally  in  the 
descriptive  phraseology  of  St.  Paul,  find  the  secrets  of  their 
hearts  made  manifest,  and  falling  down  upon  their  faces, 
worship  God,  and  report  that  God  is  in  the  midst  of  these 
people  of  a  truth."  Ashmuri's  letter,  31st  December,  1825. 
Af.  Rep.  II.  90. 

We  should  certainly  conclude  from  these  accounts,  that 
these  holy  men  were  blessed  with 

"  Composed  desires,  affections  ever  even, 
Tears  that  delight,  and  sighs  that  waft  to  Heaven." 

Yet  strange  to  tell,  we  are  presented  with  the  following 
perplexing  statement,  by  the  same  eye  witness  : 

"  About  twelve  months  since  it  (the  colony)  had  entirely 

fiven  way,  as  the  committee  are  'but  too  well  apprised,  to  a 
lind  and  furious  excitement  of  the  worst  passions,  caused 
by  a  somewhat  unfortunate  policy  operating  on  ignorance 
and  invincible  prejudice.     During  my  absence  for  health, 
the  people  were  obliged  to  taste  some  of  the  bitter  fruits  of 


CHARACTER  OF   THE  COLONY.  65 

anarchy,  and  by  the  singular  mercy  of  God,  only  escaped 
those  tragedies  of  blood,  which,  can  find  no  modern  parallel, 
but  in  the  history  of  the  ciyil  murders  and  devastations  of 
St.  Domingo."  Ashmunls  letter,  I5th  January,  1825.  Af. 
Rep.  I.  23. 

The  excitement  here  alluded  to,  and  its  unhappy  con 
sequences,  occurred,  it  .yifill  be  seen  by  a  comparison  qf 
dates,  in  1824  ;  and  that  wonderful  moral  change,  which 
tendered  the  hearts  of  a  large  proportion  of  these  people 
the  temples  of  the -Divine  Spirit,  must  have  been  effected 
in  1825.  Yet  it  was  in  the  beginning  of  1825,  that  the 
managers  announced  at  their  annual  meeting  at  Washington, 
the  marvellous  fact  of  the:  instruction  of  the  thousand  bar 
barians  within  the  gates  of  the  colony,  a  fact  which  of 
course  must  have  happened  several  months  previous  to  the 
date  of  the  report,  and  consequently  during,  or  about  the 
time  of  the  ".furious- .excitement !" 

In  March,  1825,  the  Editor  of  the  Af.  Rep.,  giyes;,us  the 
,  following  delightful  intelligence  : 

"  The  eye  of  the  stranger  is  strucic  wjth  the  religious  as 
pect  of  the  settlement.  -HerbehoWs,  on  Cape  Montserado, 
standing  in  lonely  beauty,  a  Christian  village.  There  flou 
rish  the  virtues  of  the  gospel,  defended  by  the  Almighty, 
from  the  influences  of  paganism,  cherished  and  refreshed  fyy 
the  dews  of  his  grace."  Af.  Rep.  I.  5. 

The  secret  of  this  surprising  exhibition  of  Christian  love 
liness  and  purity,  is.  thus  explained. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  this  little  community  is  made  up 
of  SELECTED  INDIVIDUALS,  and  that  the  Board  have  ever  re 
quired  of  those  seeking  their  patronage,  satisfactory  evidence 
that  their  morals  were  pare,  and  their  habits  industrious. 
Hence  this  settlement  has  from  its  origin  exhibited  great 
decency  and  sobriety,  respect  for  the  Sabbath,  and  the 
other  peculiar  duties, and  ordinances  ^f  our  religion.  It  has 
thus  shed  a  benign  and  sacred  light  upon  the  heathen,  and 
the  feelings  of  the  profane  and  lawless  stranger  as  he  treads 
upon  Cape  Montserado  are  subdued  into  unwonted -serious 
ness."  Af.  Rep.  IX.  .p.  19.  1826. 

But  again  we  are  perplexed,  by  the  assertion  of  the  Go 
vernor  of  the  Colony. 

"Por  at  least  two  years  to  come,  a  much  more  discrimi" 


'66  CHARACTER  OF  THE  COLONY. 

netting  selection  of  settlers  must  be  made  than  EVER  HAS 
BEEN — even  in  the  first  and  second  expeditions  by  the  Eli 
zabeth  and  Nautilus  in  1820  and  1822— -or  the  prosperity  of 
the  colony  will  inevitably  and  rapidly  decline/'  Ashmun's 
Letter,  3d  March,  1828.  Af.  Rep.  IV.  86. 

In  the  llth  Report,  the  managers  assure  us: 

"  No  village  perhaps,  in  our  own  land,  exhibits  less  which 
is  offensive,  and  more  that  is  gratifying  to  the  eye  of  the 
Christian,  than  the  village  of  Monrovia.  Crimes  are  almost 
unknown,  and  the  universal  respect  manifested  for  the  Sab 
bath,  and  the  various  institutions  and  duties  of  Christianity, 
lisive  struck  the  natives  with  surprise,  and  excited  the  ad 
miration  of  foreigners."  Af.  Rep.  XI.  p.  14.  1828. 

But  how  are  we  to  reconcile  this,  with  the  following 
statements  ? 

"Permit  me  to  say,  sir,  there  must  be  a  great  revolu 
tion  ,in  this  colony,  before  it  can  have  a  salutary  influence 
on  the  surrounding  natives  ;  that  is,  before  it  can  have  a 
moral  influence  over  them.*'  Letter  from  Rev.  G.  M.  Ers- 
kine,  3d  April,  1830.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  121. 

"  We  stand  in  jnuch  need  of  a  work  house,  and  some 
acres  of  land  enclosed,  for  confining  licentious  females,  and 
other  disorderly  and  lazy  persons."  Letter  from  A.  D. 
Williams,  Agent,  Wth  Sept.  1830.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  275. 

"  There  are  several  enterprising  merchants  here.  It  is 
not,  however,  a  favorable  spot  for  small  storekeepers  and 
wandering  pedlars,  who,  I  am  told,  generally  become  stript 
of  what  they  may  have,  got,  and  in  wandering  about  in  the 
interior  for  small  traffic,  disgust  the  natives  by  their  immo 
ralities."  Letter  from  Lieut.  Page  to  Sec.  of  Navy,  9th 
April,  1832.  Af.  Rep.  VIII.  141. 

"With  respect  to  the  character  of  the  people  composing 
this  expedition,  I  regret  to  be  compelled  to  state,  that  they 
are,  with  the  exception  of  the  Pages  from  Virginia,  and  a 
few  others,  the  lowest  and  -most  abandoned  of  their  class. 
Our  respectable  colonists  themselves,  are  becoming  alarmed 
at  the  great  number  of  ignorantand  abandoned  characters 
that  have  arrived  here  within  the  last  twelve  months."  Let 
ter  from  Dr.  Mechlin,  Agent,  Sept.  1832.  Af.  Rep.  VIII. 

et  them  (the  friends  of  the  Society  in  America)  know. 


•CHARACTER  OF  THE  COLONY.  67 

that  to  extend  knowledge  and  promote  sound  piety,  a  quire 
of  paper  is  at  the  present  moment  of  more  worth  than  a 
Bible.  Bibles  and  Tracts  have  been  sent  here,  and  either 
used  as  waste  paper,  or  made  food  for  worms — why  ?  Not 
becaus-e  the  people  despise  either,  but  because  we  have  not 
a  reading  population.  Until  this  4s  secured,  Bibles  would 
be  of  more  value  in  China."  'Letter  from  Rev.  J.-B.  Pin- 
ney,  Agent,  1th  March,  1834. 

On  the  17th  June,  1833,  Mr.  Gurley,  Secretary  of  the 
Society,  in  a  speech  at  a  Colonization  meeting  in  New-York, 
hazarded  the  following  most  extraordinary  assertion,  "  TEN 
THOUSAND  -NATIVES  had  placed  themselves  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  colony,  receiving  from  dt,  instruction  in  ci 
vilization." 

The  Society,  at  its  annual  meeting  20th  January,  1834, 
unanimously  "  Resolved,  that  this  Society  is -cheered  in  its 
enterprise  by  the  beneficent  effects  which  its  operations  have 
upon  the  natives  of  Africa  itself."  Af.  Rep.  IX.  360. 

On  the  20th  February,  1834,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pinney,  Agent 
at  Liberia,  thus  writes  from  the  colony. 

"  The  colonists  are  very  ignorant  of  every  thing  about 
the  interior.  Except  the  tribes  along  the  coast,  nothing  at 
all  is  known,  and  of  them,  little  but  their  manner  of  traffic. 
Nothing -has  'been  done  for  the  natives  -hitherto  by  the  Co 
lonists,  except  to  educate  a  few,  who  were  in  their  families 
in  the  capacity  of  servants."  Mr.  Pinney  appears  not  to 
have  been  acquainted  with  the  fact,9 that  "  a  thousand  bar 
barians"  had  been  taught  the  'doctrine  of  immortality  with 
in  the  gates  of  the  colony,  or  that  •**•  ten  thousand  natives" 
had  received  instruction  in  civilization! 

Had  any  Missionary  Society  been  guilty  of  such  extra 
vagant  anticipations  and  such  gross  and  palpable  contradic 
tions,  the  whole  community  would  have  joined  in  loading  it 
with  ridicule  and  odium. 

It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  that  some  distinguished  Colo- 
nizationists,  have  of  late  attempted  to  lead  the  public  to  hope, 
that  in  future  no  emigrants  but  such  as  are  of  good  moral 
Character,  will  be  permitted  to  go  to'Liberia.  It  is  difficult 
to  reconcile  such  an  attempt  with  moral  rectitude,  unless  it 
•be  accompanied  with  a  total  and  avowed  abandonment  of 
^Colonization  as  a  means  of  relieving  the  country  from  the 


(68  CHARACTER  OF  THE  COLONY. 

nuisance  of  a  free  colored  population,  and  from  the  guilt 
and  curse  of  slavery.  Of  the  gross  inconsistency,  (not  to 
use  a  harsher  term,)  of  Colonizationists  on  this  subject,  the 
proceedings  of  a  Colonization  meeting  in  Cincinnati,  Octo 
ber  31st,  1834,  afford  a  striking  example.  On  motion  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Beecher,  the  following  Resolution  was  unani-r 
mou-sly  adopted:  "  Resolved,  that  the  establishment  of  co 
loriies  in  Africa,  by  the  selection  of  colored  persons  wh< 
are  moral,  industrious,  and  temperate,  is  eminently  cal 
culated  of  itself  to  advance  the  cause  of  civilization  and 
religion  among  the  benighted  native  population  of  that 
continent;  as  well  as  to  ^afford  facilities  to  the  various 
Missionary  Societies  for  the  prosecution  of  their  pious 
designs." 

This  resolution  would1  be  utterly  without  point  or  mean 
ing,  were  it  not  laudatory  of  the  plans  of  the  Colonization 
Society  ;  and  no  person  of  common  intelligence  would  con 
jecture  from  the  resolution,  that  the  "selection"  mentioned 
in  it,  was  utterly  at  variance  with,  and  directly  opposed  to, 
the  avowed  objects  of  the  Society.  Slavery  in  our  country 
cannot  be  abolished  by  Colonization,  without  removing 
more  than  two  millions  of  slaves  ;  and  how  is  it  possible  to 
remove  this  number,  and  yet  select  for  colonists  only  "  the 
moral,  industrious,  and  temperate  ?"  Nevertheless,  the 
meeting  "Resolved,  that  the  friends  of  humanity  and  the 
friends  of  God,  should  cherish  the  Colonization  Society,  be 
cause  of  its  influence  TO  ABOLISH  SLAVERY,  and  advance  the 
best  interests  of  the  African  race." 

Pages  might  be  quoted  to  show  that  the  professed  tilti- 

-  mate  object  of  the  Society,  is  to  remove  the  whole  colored 
population  to  Africa,  without  any  selection  whatever.  In 
1824,  a  Committee  of  the  Board,  in  an  official  report,  de 
clared,  that  the  national  interest  "  required  that  the  whole 
mass  of  free  persons  of  color,  and  those  who  may  become 
such  with  the  consent  of  their  owners,  should  be  progres 
sively  removed  from  us,  as  fast  as  their  own  consent  can  be 
obtained,  and  as  the  means  can  be  found  for  their  removal 
and  for  their  proper  establishment  in  Africa."  Afric.  Rep. 
VII.  p.  113. 

"  But  the  Colonization  Society  hopes  for,  and  aims  a.t, 

.much  more — .the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  the  removal  of 


A   SELECTION  OF  EMIGRANTS.  69 

A!LL  the  black  people  from  the  United  States."  Proceed 
ings  of  New  York  Col.  Soc.  2nd  Anniversary. 

We  have  remarked  that  EXPEDIENCY  is  unhappily  the 
governing  principle  of  the  Society,  and  to  this  principle 
must  be  attributed  the  recent  talk  about  select  emigrants. 

Funds  are  low,  and  temperance  is  popular,  and  all  at  once 
we  hear  that  the  colonies  in  Liberia  are  to  be  temperance 
colonies  ;  and  that  the  emigrants  are  to  be  "  moral,  indus 
trious,  and  temperate."  And  so  we  are  to  send  the  good 
negroes  away,  and  keep  the  bad  at  home  !  And  yet,  by 
transporting  the  few  moral,  industrious  and  temperate  in 
dividuals,  that  can  be  selected  in  a  vicious  and  ignorant  po 
pulation  of  between  two  and  three  millions,  we  are  to  abo 
lish  slavery  !!  Surely  Colonizationists,  by  holding  such  lan 
guage,  pay  but  a  poor  compliment  to  their  own  candor,  or 
the  common  sense  of  the  community.  The  truth  is  there 
never  has  been,  and  never  will  be,  a  selection  made.*  The 
two  last  cargoes  sent  by  the  Society,  were  by  the  public  con 
fession  of  Mr.  Breckenridge  "  two  cargoes  of  vagabonds." 
Will  it  be  pretended  that  all  the  coercion  exerted  to  induce 
the  blacks  to  emigrate,  operates  only  on  the  good  ;  or  that 
it  is  the  drunken  and  profligate  who  find  favor  in  the  eyes 
of  Colonizationists,  and  are  permitted  to  remain  in  peace 
and  quietness  at  home! 

The  Society  itself  has  borne  abundant  testimony  to  the 
depravity  of  the  free  blacks,  and  its  friends,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  zealously  maintain  that  the  slaves  are  unfit 
for  freedom  ;  and  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  proposed  to 
transport  them  all  to  Africa.  And  now  we  would  ask,  on  what 
principle  of  common  sense,  on  what  record  of  experience, 
does  the  Society  expect  that  a  population,  which  in  a  land 
of  Bibles  and  churches,  is  sunk  in  vice  and  ignorance,  will, 

*  Since  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  a  public  meeting  lias  been  held  (17th  March)  in  N.  Orleans, 
preparatory  to  the  departure  of  some  manumitted  slaves  to  Africa    At  this  meeting,  the  intended 
emigrants  were  arrayed  before  the  audience,  and  the  Agent  of  the  Amer.  Col.  Soc.  informed  them 
that  the  society  was  "  unalterably  determined  to  send  to  the  Colony  none  but  such  as  am  witling 
to  pledge  themselves  to  total  abstinence  from  ardent  spirits."   He  also  announced  that  one  negro 
had  been  rejected  as  an  emigrant  "on  accountof  his  habits  of  intoxication."   A  pledge  was  then 
read  to  the  negroes,  and  thyy  were  ordered  to  signify  their  assent  by  rising,  which  they  accord 
ingly  did.    See  New-  York  Journal  of  Commerce,  1st  April,  1835. 

This  N.  Orleans  scene  will  afford  no  gratification  to  the  friends  of  temperance  ;  nor  will  it  per 
manently  advance  the  cause  of  colonization.  In  a  population  universally  addicted  to  intoxica 
tion,  ONE  is  selected  as  a  public  example  of  the  abhorrence  of  the  society  to  drunkenness,  and 
is  shut  out  from  the  promisee!  land,  not  for  refusing  to  take  the  pledge,  but  on  account  of  Ins  in 
temperate  habits  ;  while  his  companions  are  required  to  promise  total  abstinence,  under  the  pe 
nalty  of  spending  their  lives  in  bondage  !  ! 

•  If  the  society  wishes  to  promote  temperance,  instead  of  extorting  pledges  from  mi-erable  slavef , 
lot  them  exercise  the  power  they  possess  of  excluding  all  intoxicating  liquors  from  their  Colony. 


70  CHARACTER  OF  SIERRA  LEONE. 

when  landed  on  the  shores  of  Africa,  and  immersed  in  all 
the  darkness  of  paganism,  become  on  a  sudden,  a  Christian 
society,  and  employed  in  teaching  thousands  of  barbarians 
"the  doctrine  of  immortality,  the  religion  of  the  Son  oi 
God  !" 

Pious  Colonizationists  would  themselves  be  shocked  at 
the  proposal  of  disgorging  on  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  the 
tenants  of  our  prisons,  under  the  pretext  of  instructing  the 
natives  in  "  religion  and  the  arts  ;"  and  y«t  they  flatter 
themselves,  that  emigrants,  who,  by  their  own  showing,  are 
less  intelligent,  and  scarcely  less  guilty  than  our  prisoners, 
will,  by  undergoing  a  salt  Water  baptism,  land  in  Africa 
wholly  regenerated;  and  qualified  as  heralds  of  the  cross,  to 
convert  millions  and  millions  to  the  faith  of  the  Gospel. 
So  monstrous  an  absurdity,  can  be  the  offspring  only  of  a 
deep  and  sinful  prejudice.  Hatred  to  the  blacks  can  alone 
delude  us  into  the  belief  that  in  banishing  them  from 
our  soil,  we  are  doing  God  service.  Were  it  not  for  this 
hatred,  we  should  feel  and  acknowledge,  that  Christianity 
must  be  propagated  in  Africa,  as  elsewhere,  by  faithful  and 
enlightened  missionaries.  If  the  climate  or  other  circum 
stances  require  that  such  missionaries  be  of  African  de 
scent,  it  is  our  duty  to  educate  them,  before  we  send  them. 
But  alas,  instead  of  educating  negroes,  we  wish  to  keep 
them  in  ignorance,  and  yet  pretend  that  our  nuisances  will, 
in  Africa,  be  converted  into  blessings.  But  if  Coloniza 
tionists  are  so  perverse  as  to  believe  that  a  bitter  fountain 
will  send  forth  sweet  waters,  let  them  contemplate  the  fol 
lowing  picture  of  Sierra  Leone,  drawn  by  a  devoted  friend 
to  the  Society. 

"  Including  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  (Free  Town,) 
there  are  some  six  or  eight  thousand  inhabitants,  about 
eighty  of  whom  are  white. — The  morals  of  Free  Town  are 
fearfully  bad.  As  in  colonies,  too  generally,  where  the  re 
straints  of  home,  of  friends,  of  those  we  love,  and  those  we 
fear,  are  broken  off,  licentiousness  prevails  to  a  most  lament 
able  degree.  The  abomination  is  not  committed  under 
the  cover  of  midnight,  nor  am  I  speaking  of  the  natives 
whose  early  habits  might  plead  some  apology  for  them — 
it  is  done  at  noonday,  and  to  use  a  figure,  the  throne  as 
well  as  the  footstool  has  participated  in  the  evil ;  And  the 


CHARACTER  OF  SIERRA  LEONE.  71 

evil,  I  am  told,  is  increasing.  Sanctioned  as  it  is,  by  those1 
who  take  the  lead  in  the  society,  and  who  ought  to  form  the 
morals  of  the  colony,  avarice  has  been  added  to  lust,  and 
those  who  otherwise  might  have  been  virtuous,  have  sold 
themselves  to  work  wickedness. — Humanity  and  philan 
thropy,  which  have  struggled  so  hard  and  so  long  to  help 
this  degraded  country,  must  weep  and  cover  itself  with 
sackcloth,  to  see  its  best  interests  so  wickedly  perverted  !" 
Letter  from  Rev.  M.  B.  Cox,  Methodist  Missionary  in  Li 
beria.  Af.  Rep.  IX.  p.  209. 

There  is  still  an  important  consideration,  which  does 
not  seem  to  have  engaged  the  attention  of  Coloriization- 
ists.  It  is  proposed  to  transport  to  Africa,  our  whole  color 
ed  population,  and  of  course  to  found  a  mighty  nation  in; 
Liberia.  But  how  long  will  this  nation  remain  dependent 
on  the  Board  of  Managers  at  Washington  ?  Instead  of 
millions,  suppose  the  colony  to  be  only  ten  thousand  strong 
Who  is  to  govern  it,  who  defend  it,  and  fight  its  battles  ? 
Were  the  colony  now  to  declare  independence,  how  would 
the  Society  reduce  it  to  subjection ;  and  if  not  subjected, 
what  becomes  of  the  mighty  plan  of  making  it  the  recepta 
cle  of  our  slaves  and  free  negroes?  Suppose  the  colonists 
like  their  brethren  of  Sierra  Leone  engage  in  the  slave- 
trade,  who  is  to  punish  or  control  them  ?  Suppose  in  time 
they  find  the  influx  of  emigrants  inconvenient,  and  refuse  to 
admit  them,  who  shall  coerce  them. 

On  the  whole,  the  system  of  African  Colonization  is  full 
of  absurdities,  and  contradictions,  and  evils,  which  are  not 
seen,  because  they  are  concealed  by  a  veil  of  prejudice.  It 
is  a  system  which  strikingly  exposes  the  folly  of  human 
wisdom,  when  opposed  to  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  Had  America  possessed  that  fear  of  the  Lordr 
which  is  the  beginning  of  true  wisdom,  slavery  would  long 
since  have  ceased  from  among  us,  and  our  colored  brethren, 
treated  with  Christian  kindness,  instead  of  being  ignorant 
and  degraded,  would  have  been  valued  and  useful  citizens, 
'and  our  churches,  instead  of  uniting  to  send  "  cargoes  of 
vagabonds"  to  Africa  under  the  guise  of  Christian  missiona 
ries,  would  have  aided  the  descendants  of  her  sons,  furnish 
ed  by  us  with  all  the  stores  of  human  learning,  and  selected 


72  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SOCIETY  ON  SLAVERY. 

for  their  piety  and  zeal,  in  proclaiming  the   glad  tidings  of 
salvation,  throughout  that  benighted  continent. 


CHAPTER    V. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SOCIETY  ON  SLAVERY. 

IN  1822,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  a  public  meeting 
in  Boston,  to  report  on  the  character  and  tendency  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society.  The  committee  in  thei-r 
report  remark: 

"It  is  only  from  the  belief  which  the  committee  very 
cordially  entertain,  that  the  active  members  of  the  Ameri 
can  Colonization  Society  are  perfectly  disposed  to  frame 
their  measures  with  reference  to  the  entire  suppression  of 
the  slave  trade,  and  to  a  gradual  and  prudent,  but  COMPLETE 
EMANCIPATION  of  those  now  held  in  slavery,  that  we  can 
regard  the  Society  as  having  any  claim  upon  the  sympathy 
or  assistance  of  the  people  of  New  England." 

Such  were  the  expectations  by  which  northern  philanthro<- 
pists  were  at  first  induced  to  countenance  the  Society. 
There  is  scarcely  to  be  found  a  Colonization  article  or 
speech  that  does  not  warrant  these  expectations,  that  does 
not  promise  the  exertion  by  the  Society  of  a  mighty  MORAL 
INFLUENCE  in  abolishing  slavery. 

Now  it  is  obvious,  that  such  an  influence  must  operate  in 
one  or  more  of  the  following  ways,  viz.  : 

1.  On  the  conscience  of  the  slave  holder,    convincing 
him  that  slave  holding  is  sinful,  and  that  his  Maker  requires 
him  to  liberate  his  slaves. 

2.  On  the  reputation  of  the  slave  holder,  making  him 
feel,  that  his  standing  in  the  community  is  lowered  by  keep 
ing  his  fellow  men  in  bondage,  and  enjoying,  without  con> 
pensation,  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 

3.  On  the  interests  of  the  slave  holder,  persuading  him, 
tnat  emancipation  would  enhance  his  property. 

4  On  the  fears  of  the  slave  holder,  alarming  him  for  the 
safety  of  himself  and  family. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SOCIETY  ON  SLAVERY.      73 

5.  By  the  power  of  example,  showing  the  slaveholder, 
by  the  conduct  of  others  whom  he  esteems,  what  his  own 
ought  to  be. 

We  flatter  ourselves,  that  we  shall  prove,  that  the  influ 
ence  of  the  Society  is  in  no  degree  exerted  in  any  one  of 
these  ways,  except  the  last.  Of  the  extent  of  this  last 
mode,  we  shall  speak  hereafter. 

It  will  riot  be  pretended,  that  the  Society  addresses  itself 
to  the  conscience  of  the  slaveholder.  Such  addresses  are 
not  authorized  by  the  constitution,  and  have  been  repeated 
ly  disclaimed  by  the  Society.  But  when  the  Society  dis 
claims  appeals  to  the  conscience,  it  disclaims  the  most 
powerful  of  all  means  for  the  removal  of  slavery. 

"  We  never  made  any  headway,"  says  a  British  writer, 
"  in  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  and  of  slavery,  till  it 
was  taken  up  by  the  religious  men,  prosecuted  as  a  concern 
of  the  soul,  with  reference  to  eternity,  and  by  motives 
drawn  from  the  cross  of  Christ."  Mr.  G.  Smith,  a  most 
estimable  officer  of  the  Society,  remarked,  in  a  temperance 
address  : 

'**  I  never  heard  that  temperance  had  any  success  any 
where,  unless  the  appeals  in  its  favor  were  made  directly  to 
the  consciences  of  the  rum  dealers.  Strike  out  these,  and 
it  is  in  vain  that  you  seek  for  other  means  to  propel  the  tri 
umphant  car  of  temperance.  Hitch  to  that  car,  health, 
economy,  expediency,  the  public  good,  what  you  please,  if 
you  leave  out  the  appeal  to  men's  consciences,  you  have, 
as  we  say  at  the  North,  a  weak  team.'1''  And  surely  a  more 
weak,  broken-winded,  good  for  nothing  team,  than  coloni 
zation,  was  never  hitched  to  the  car  of  abolition.  How, 
and  in  what  direction,  does  this  team  draw  ?  It  is  amusing 
to  observe  how  wary  Colonizationists  are  of  approaching 
this  question.  They  dwell  on  the  political  evils  of  slavery, 
and  call  on  religion  and  patriotism  for  aid  in  removing 
them  ;  and  when,  in  breathless  attention,  we  are  waiting  to 
learn  by  what  process  the  moral  influence  of  the  society  is 
to  deliver  us  from  the  curse  of  slavery,  in  a  moment  the 
scene  shifts  to  Africa,  and  we  are  entertained  with  visions 
of  its  future  bliss  and  glory.  It  may  be  safely  asserted, 
that  not  one  Colonization  writer  or  orator  in  a  hundred, 
ever  attempts  to  explain  how  the  Society  is  to  induce  mas- 


74  MORAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SOCIETY 

ters  to  liberate  their  slaves.  Occasionally,  however,  the 
effort  is  made.  Mr.  Knapp,  in  a  speech  before  the  Society, 
thus  explains  the  matter  : 

"  In  my  opinion,  it  (slavery)  may  be  cured  in  less  time 
than  it  has  been  growing  up.  Open  once  the  facilities  of 
emigration — show  an  object  for  it,  and,  like  any  other  bu 
siness,  it  will  increase  to  any  extent  we  may  wish.  The 
natural  world  has  yielded  her  impossibilities,  as  they  were 
thought,  to  the  efforts  of  enlightened  men  ;  why  should  we 
not  be  as  successful  in  the  moral?  A  fair  and  permanent 
road  is  now  built  over  the  Alps,  the  passage  of  which  was 
once  considered  as  sufficient  to  give  immortality  to  the 
successful  adventurer."  10th  Rep.  p.  6. 

So,  it  seems,  that  if  we  open  once  the  facilities  of  .emi 
gration,  that  is,  provide  ships,  &c.,  the  planters  will  at 
once  call  in  their  slaves  from  their  cotton  and  sugar  fields, 
and  ship  them  to  Africa ;  but  why  they  will  do  so,  is  a 
problem,  which,  after  all,  Mr.  Knapp  omits  to  solve. 

"  This  work,  (Colonization,)  as  it  advances,  tends  to  im 
prove  the  character,  and  elevate  the  condition  of  the  free 
people  of  color,  and  thus  to  take  away  one  standing  and  very 
influential  argument  against  both  individual  and  general 
abolition.  This,  to  an  unprejudiced  mind,  is  one  of  the 
most  obvious  tendencies  of  African  Colonization.  Ele 
vate  the  character  of  the  free  people  of  color,  let  it  be 
seen  that  they  are  men  indeed  ;  let  the  degrading  associa 
tions  which  follow  them  be  broken  up  by  the  actual  im 
provement  of  their  character  as  a  people,  and  negro  sla 
very  must  wither  and  die."  New-Haven  Christian  Spec 
tator  for  March,  1833. 

As  the  Society  utterly  disclaims  all  attempts  to  elevate 
th.^  rree  blacks  here,  the  meaning  of  the  above  is,  that 
wnen  the  slave  holder  in  America  learns  that  black  men  in 
Liberia  are  intelligent  and  respectable,  he  will  release  his 
slaves  from  their  fetters.  We  wonder  if  similar  intelligence 
from  the  West  Indies  will  produce  the  same  effect:  if  so, 
it  may  be  obtained  at  far  less  expense  of  time  and  money, 
than  from  Africa. 

Let  us  now  attend  to  the  process  by  which  an  excellent 
Vice  President  of  the  Society,  supposes  slavery  is  to  be 
abolished. 


UPON    SLAVERY.  75 

"  Let  Africa  begin  to  enter  upon  the  redemption  of  her 
character,  which  guilty  Christian  nations  have  for  centu 
ries  combined  to  keep  down  to  the  lowest  point  of  degra 
dation,  and  she  will  begin  to  be  respected,  and  the  condi 
tion  of  her  outcast  children  on  our  shores,  will  awaken  a 
livelier  sympathy.  And  when  Africa  shall  have  put  on  the 
garment  of  civilization,  and  the  influence  of  her  regenera 
tion  shall  be  felt  throughout  this  land,  our  most  tenacious, 
and  obstinate  slave  holder,  will  shrink  from  the  relation  he 
bears  to  her  children.  The  poor  creature  whom  he  for 
merly  regarded  as  a  few  removes  above  the  brute,  \\ill 
now  present  himself  before  the  new  associations  of  his 
master's  mind,  as  his  fellow  man,  and  his  equal,  and  the 
slave  will  be  permitted  to  go  free."  Speech  of  G.  Smith, 
E*q.  14th  Rep.  p.  11. 

It  would  seem,  that  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  year 
of  the  Society's  labors,  Africa  had  not  yet,  in  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Smith,  begun  to  enter  upon  the  redemption  of  her 
character.  How  soon  a  beginning  is  to  be  made,  and  in 
how  many  years,  or  centuries,  the  Society  expects  to  com 
plete  the  work  of  dressing  Africa  in  the  garment  of  civili 
zation,  we  are  not  informed.  But  when  this  work  shall 
have  been  finished,  and  when  it  shall  have  produced  a 
general  sensation  (how  strong  and  of  wrhat  kind  we  know 
not)  throughout  America,  THEN  the  motions  of  the  sugar- 
mill  and  cotton-gin  are  to  be  arrested,  and  the  fetters  are 
to  fall  from  the  slave.  Why?  Because  the  commands  of 
(rod,  and  the  interests  and  safety  of  the  master,  require  it  ? 
No  ;  but  because  the  master  will  then  make  the  discovery, 
that  his  poor  slave,  but  little  removed  as  he  is  from  the 
brute,  is  still  his  fellow  man,  and  his  equal  !  This  is  cer 
tainly  a  most  marvellous  process  for  teaching  the  Southern 
planters  a  plain,  simple  truth  ;  a  truth,  too,  which  was  pro 
claimed  by  their  own  representatives,  so  long  ago  as  1776, 
in  the  declaration  of  independence,  but  which  unfortunately 
seems  not  to  have  had  the  influence  which  Mr.  Smith  sup 
poses  it  will  exert,  when  taught  by  the  regeneration  of 
Africa. 

We  may  now  judge  a  little  of  the  elements  of  that 
moral  influence,  which  a  Christian  Society  exerts  against 


76  GRADUAL  ABOLITION. 

slavery.     Conscience,  and   the  word  of  God,  death,  judg 
ment,  and  eternity,  enter  not  into  its  composition. 

"  The  Society,"  declares  one  of  its  vice  presidents, 
"  tends,  and  may  powerfully  tend,  to  rid  us  gradually  and 
entirely  in  the  United  States,  of  slaves  and  slavery."  R. 
G.  Harper.  See  Uth  Rep.  p.  23. 

Let  us  now  see  how  gradually  this  riddance  is  to  be 
effected. 

"  We  have  never  supposed,  that  the  Society's  plan  could 
be  accomplished  in  a  few  years  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  have 
boasted,  that  it  will  demand  a  CENTURY  for  its  fulfillment." 
Mr.  Fitzhugh,  Vice  President.  Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  344. 

It  may  seem  singular  that  philanthropists  should  exult 
in  the  conviction,  that  their  plan  for  doing  good  would  re 
quire  a  century  for  its  fulfillment ;  but  the  benevolence  of 
the  "  Colonization  system"  is  peculiar. 

"There  are  those,  sir,  who  ask,  '  and  could  not  a  qua  it  or 
of  a  century  cease  and  determine  these  two  great  evils,' 
(free  blacks  and  slaves.)  You  and  I,  my  dear  sir,  on  whom 
the  frost  of  time  has  fallen  rather  perceptibly,  would  say  a 
CENTURY."  Speech  of  Mr.  Cvstiss.  13'/i  Rep.  p.  viii. 

"  The  sudden  abolition  of  slavery  in  a  community  where 
it  existed  to  any  considerable  extent,  would  be  pernicious. 
But  this  is  danger  which  can  occasion  no  alarm,  admitting 
that  the  Colonization  scheme  contemplates  the  ultimate 
abolition  of  slavery,  yet  that  result  could  only  be  produced 
by  the  slow  and  gradual  operation  of  CENTURIES."  Af. 
Rep.  I.  p.  217. 

"It  is  not  expected  to  remove  so  great  an  evil  as  two 
millions  of  slaves  suddenly  :  if  it  can  be  accomplished  in  a 
CENTURY,  it  will  be  as  much  as  the  most  sanguine  of  our 
friends  ought  to  expect."  Judge  Best's  Address  to  the  In 
diana  Col  Soc.  Af.  Rep.  IX.'  p.  71. 

"  It  is  not  the  work  of  a  day,  nor  a  year;  it  is  not  the 
work  of  one  time,  nor  of  two;  but  it  is  one  which  will  now 
commence,  and  may  continue  for  AGES."  View  of  Slavery, 
"by  Ilumanitas,  a  Colonization  advocate.  Baltimore,  1822. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  continuance  of  slavery,  with  all 
its  licentiousness,  ignorance,  and  suffering,  for  at  least  a 
century  to  come,  is  calmly  contemplated  by  zealous  and 


SLAVES  TO  BE  REMOVED.  77 

distinguished  Colonizationists.  But  still  the  Society  ex 
pects  ultimately  to  abolish  slavery.  Let  us  therefore  in 
quire  what  it  must  effect  to  fulfill  this  expectation. 

The  increase  of  our  slave  population,  from  the  census 
of  1820  to  that  of  1830,  was  472,568.  Estimating  the 
future  increase  at  the  same  ratio,  it  will  be  for  the  ten 
years  ending  in  1810,  017,263  ;  and  for  the  ten  years  end 
ing  in  1850,  806,762.  The  annual  increase  is  now  up 
wards  of  54,000,  and  the  daily  excess  of  births  over  deaths, 
147.  In  1850,  it  will  be  80,676  annually,  and  221  daily  ! 

From  this  statement,  it  will  be  perceived,  what  must  be 
the  power  of  the  "  moral  influence"  of  the  Society  to  re 
move  to  Africa  merely  the  annual  increase  of  our  slave 
population  ;  and  hence  we  may  judge  of  its  ability  to  de 
liver  the  country  from  slavery.  In  forming  an  opinion  on 
this  subject,  we  shall  be  further  aided  by  inquiring  what 
advantages  the  Society  has  enjoyed,  and  what  have  been 
the  results  of  its  labors. 

Never  has  any  voluntary  association  received  in  an  equal 
degree  the  applause  and  patronage  of  both  state  and  church. 
Men  of  all  parties,  and  of  all  religions,  and  of  no  religion, 
have  zealously  espoused  its  cause.  On  the  roll  of  its  offi 
cers,  are  emblazoned  the  names  of  the  most  popular  leaders 
of  rival  political  parties.  The  Legislatures  of  fourteen 
States  have  passed  resolutions  in  its  favor.  The  highest 
ecclesiastical  judicatories,  of  almost  every  religious  denomi 
nation,  have  recommended  it  to  the  patronage  of  their 
churches.  Politicians  have  declaimed,  ministers  have 
preached,  and  Christians  have  prayed  in  its  behalf.  To 
promote  its  objects,  liberal  contributions  have  been  made 
from  the  coffers  of  the  nation,  and  the  pockets  of  indivi 
duals.  Under  color  of  providing  for  the  removal  to  Africa, 
of  about  three  hundred  recaptured  negroes,  the  general 
government  appropriated  130,000  dollars,  which  were  "ap 
plied  to  an  object  affiliated  to  our  design,  and  essentially, 
though  collaterally,  contributing  to  its  advancement ;  the 
sending  out  of  agents  of  the  United  States  to  the  African 
coast,  and  the  transportation  of  persons  in  the  public  ships. 
By  these  means  we  have  obtained,  in  fact,  all  we  could 
have  expected  to  gain,  had  Congress  decided  to  aid  our  en 
terprise."  Speech  of  Gen.  Harper,  1th  Rep.  p.  12. 
7* 


78  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SOCIETY 

Since  1820,  8220,449  have  been  poured  into  the  treasury. 
If  to  this  be  added  $45,045,  the  debt' due  by  the  Society  at 
the  beginning  of  1834,  we  have  a  total  of  266,094  dollars 
expended,  independent  of  the  130,000  dollars  paid  by  go 
vernment.  Such  have  been  the  pecuniary  means  of  the  So 
ciety  ;  and  now  let  us  see  how  far  its  "  moral  influence"  has 
progressed  in  freeing  the  country  of  its  millions  of  slaves. 
Since  December,  181(5,  when  the  Society  was  organized,  to 
the  present  time,  (1st  of  January,  1835,)  it  has  transported 
eight  hundred  and  nine  manumitted  slaves  to  Africa — 
equal  to  the  increase  of  the  slave  population  for  Jive  and  a 
half  days  !  But  it  will  be  said,  that  some  years  elapsed  be 
fore  the  Society  was  in  a  capacity  to  transport  emigrants. 
Be  it  so — let  us  inquire  then,  how  many  manumitted  slaves 
have  been  sent  out  the  last/ve  years.  In  1830,  1,  2,  3,  six 
hundred  and  sixty-six  were  transported  :  in  1834,  none,* 
making  a  removal  on  an  average,  of  less  than  the  increase 
of  one  day  in  each  year  !  In  the  eighteenth  year  of  the 
Society's  existence,  it  finds  itself  compelled  to  pause  arid 
rest,  after  the  mighty  effort  of  arresting  the  increase  of  the 
slave  population  for  FIVE  DAYS  AND  A  HALF. 

Such  are  the  results  of  the  moral  influence  about  which 
we  have  heard  so  much.  And  upon  whom  has  this  influence 
operated  ?  Surely  upon  those  who  were  most  within  its 
sphere,  the  presidents,  vice-presidents,  and  managers  of  the 
Society.  Unfortunately,  facts^do  not  confirm  this  very  na 
tural  supposition.  Judge  Washington  was  President  of 
the  Society,  from  its  first  organization,  till  his  death  in  1 829. 
In  ct  letter  to  the  Society,  he  observed,  "  We  may  fairly  hope 
it  will  lead  to  the  sure  but  gradual  abolition  of  slavery." 
Af.  Rep.  VII.  p.  20. 

Whatever  were  the  hopes  of  this  gentleman,  he  was  per- 
serially  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Society's  moral  influence. 
In  a  published  letter  in  1821,  after  stating  that  his  slaves 
had  got  the  idea  that  as  nephew  to  General  Washington,  or 
President  of  the  Colonization  Society,  he  could  not  hold 
them  in  bondage,  he  adds,  "  I  called  the  negroes  together 

*  In  1P34,  the  Philadelphia  Society  sent  out  one  hundred  and  ten  slaves, 
manumitted  by  the  will  of  their  master,  who  also  left  two  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars  for  their  transportation.  The  Society,  at  the  same  time, 
gave  a  passage  to  fourteen  emigrants  for  the  Parent  Institution,  free  of  ex 
pense. 


UPON   ITS  OWN  MEMBERS.  79 

in  March  last,  and  after  stating  to  them  what  I  had  heard,  I 
assured  them  that  I  had  no  intention  to  give  freedom  to  any 
of  them." 

The  Judge  was  as  good  as  his  word.  He  did  indeed 
shortly  after  part  with  fifty-four  of  his  slaves,  but  it  was 
not  to  the  agent  of  the  Society,  to  be  transported  to  Liberia, 
but  to  a  slave  dealer,  to  be  shipped  to  New  Orleans.  Mr. 
Carroll,  a  large  slave  holder,  succeeded  to  the  presidential 
chair,  but'  for  aught  that  appears  to  the  contrary,  neither 
he  nor  Mr.  Madison,  the  present  incumbent,  ever  liberated 
a  single  slave.  Mr.  Clay,  a  Vice  President,  publicly  inti 
mated,  that  he  did  not  intend  to  send  his  slaves  to  Africa. 
Mr.  Fitzhugh,  another  Vice  President,  the  proprietor  of 
**  numerous  slaves,"  speaking  of  slavery,  remarked  : 

"  No  plea  can  be  urged  in  justification  of  its  continuance 
but  the  plea  of  necessity"  Af.  Rep.  V.  p.  354. 

The  will  of  this  gentleman,  who  died  in  1830,  is  a 
singular  comment  on  this  plea  of  necessity.  The  follow 
ing  extract  is  given  in  the  African  Repository  under  the 
head  of 

PHILANTHROPIC    EXAMPLE. 

c  "  After  the  year  1850, 1  leave  all  my  negroes  uncondition 
ally  free,  with  the  privilege  of  having  the  expenses  of  their 
removal,  to  whatever  places  of  residence  they  may  select, 
defrayed.  If  they  consent  to  go  to  the  Colony,  (Liberia,) 
they  are  to  be  paid  fifty  dollars  each  on  their  arrival."  Af. 
Rep.  VI.  247. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  testator  believed  in  the  "  ne 
cessity"  of  requiring  his  slaves  to  toil  for  twenty  years  for 
his  heirs,  after  he  himself  was  in  the  grave,  before  they 
could  be  permitted  to  labor  for  themselves  ;  and  also  the 
necessity  of  leaving  the  children  who  might  be  born  of 
these  slaves  in  the  twenty  years,  in  interminable  bondage, 
for  it  will  be  observed,  that  the  prospective  manumission 
is  confined  to  Mr.  Fitzhugh's  "  negroes,"  and  not  to  the 
children  to  be  hereafter  born.  Should  this  Philanthropic 
example  be  universally  followed,  in  how  many  centuries 
would  slavery  cease? 


80  DIFFICULTIES  OF  COLONIZATION. 

Mr.  Custiss,  well  known  as  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  So 
ciety,  in  a  speech  before  it,  thus  exclaims, 

"  Lend  us  your  aid,  to  strike  the  fetters  from  the  slave, 
and  to  spread  the  enjoyment  of  unfettered  freedom  over  the 
whole  of  our  favored  and  happy  land."  7th  Report,  p.  13. 

Had  Mr.  Custiss  applied  to  the  Board,  for  a  passage  for 
his  slaves  to  Liberia,  the  boon  would  unquestionably  have 
been  granted.  But  such  a  boon,  was  not  the  aid  he  de 
sired.  In  the  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser  of  Janu 
ary  31,  1829,  it  is  stated  that  Philip  Lee,  the  son  of  Gene 
ral  Washington's  favorite  servant,  is  the  slave  of  Mr.  Cus 
tiss,  the  adopted  son  of  Washington  :  that  Philip  is  a  pious, 
faithful,  and  in  all  respects  an  exemplary  man,  and  has  a 
wife  and  children,  to  whom  he  is  tenderly  attached  ;  and 
that  1000  dollars,  are  required  to  deliver  Philip  and  his 
family  from  slavery.  "Much  interest  has  been  excited  in 
the  district  of  Columbia,  where  it  is  supposed  one  half  of 
the  sum  required  will  be  raised."  The  paper  farther  states, 
that  121  dollars  had  been  subscribed  in  New  York. 

In  the  appendix  to  the  15th  Report,  p.  41,  is  a  list  of 
persons  who  have  manumitted  slaves  to  be  sent  to  Liberia. 
The  list  does  not  profess  to  give  all,  but  contains  fifteen 
names,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  name  of  any  one  pre 
sent  or  former  officer  of  the  American  Colonization  Society 
is  not  to  be  found  among  them,  with  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Fitzhugh,  who  is  included,  on  account  of  liis  testamentary 
devise. 

Vie  will  not  assert  that  no  officer  of  the  Society,  has 
ever  parted  with  a  slave,  that  he  might  go  to  the  Colony ; 
but  we  do  say,  that  although  our  acquaintance  with  coloni 
zation  documents  is  not  superficial,  we  have  met  with  no 
record  of  such  a  "  philanthropic  example." 

If  such  be  the  impotency  of  the  moral  influence  of  the 
Society  upon  its  officers,  its  orators  and  advocates,  what 
Avill  be  its  power  on  slaveholders  generally  ? 

But  let  us  suppose,  what  we  all  know  to  be  untrue,  that 
every  slave  holder  in  our  country,  is  in  very  deed  anxious 
to  get  rid  of  his  slaves,  and  that  the  whole  slave  population 
is  now  and  will  continue  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Soci 
ety,  and  we  ask,  can  this  population  be  transported  to  Af 
rica,  and  there  maintained?  We  have  seen  that  before  ti-.iy 


ATTACHMENT  TO  SLAVERY.  81 

impression  can  be  made  on  its  present  amount,  its  increase 
rising  to  more  than  fifty-four  thousand  annually,  must  be 
removed.  But  it  is  surely  not  to  be  removed,  merely  to 
perish  by  famine  in  the  wilderness.  In  the  ordinary  cal 
culations  of  the  expense  of  carrying  these  people  to  Africa, 
they  seem  to  be  considered  only  as  articles  of  freight,  which 
arc  to  be  delivered  at  Liberia,  at  so  much  per  piece.  Thirty 
dollars  are  usually  assumed  as  the  cost  of  a  passage  ;  but 
let  it  be  recollected  that  after  they  arrive,  houses,  imple 
ments  of  husbandry,  food  and  clothing  for  at  least  one  year 
must  be  provided  for  them.  It  is  with  difficulty  a  new  co 
lony  can  provide  for  its  own  maintenance,  and  it  is  folly  to 
suppose  that  it  can  also  provide  for  an  annual  influx  of  fifty 
thousand  emigrants,  emigrants  too,  sunk  in  brutal  ignorance, 
unaccustomed  to  supply  their  own  wants,  and  bringing  with 
them,  nothing  but  the  rags  on  their  backs.  Place  fifty 
thousand  such  persons  in  the  wilds  of  Africa,  and  they 
would  be  far  more  likely  to  starve  before  the  end  of  a  year, 
than  they  would  be  at  that  time,  to  furnish  the  necessaries 
of  life  to  fifty  thousand  more  emigrants.  The  colony  is 
now  poor,  and  has  only  about  three  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  it  is  admitted  (See  15th  Rep.  p.  10,)  that  an  addition  of 
one  thousand  emigrants  in  any  one  year  since  its  establish 
ment  would  have  been  fatal  to  it.  How  many  years  then 
must  elapse,  before  it  can  receive  fifty-four  thousand  every 
year  ;  and  when  that  period  arrives,  what  will  then  be  the 
annual  increase?  Admitting  the  whole  marine  and  the 
whole  treasury  of  the  United  Slates  to  be  surrendered  to 
the  Society,  does  any  sane  man  believe,  that  Liberia  can 
be  brought  to  such  a  state  of  cultivation  as  to  maintain  an 
annual  accession  to  her  population  of  fifty-four  thousand 
in  less  than  twenty-five  years  ?  But  in  the  year  1800  the 
annual  increase  of  slaves,  instead  of  fifty-four  thousand, 
will  be  one  hundred  and  four  thousand;  and  unless  the  So 
ciety  will  then  be  able  to  transport  more  than  this  mighty 
multitude,  each  year,  it  will  not  even  diminish  the  present 
amount  of  the  slave  population  ! 

In  supposing  the  slave  holders  ready  to  colonize  their 
slaves,  we  have  given  full  effect  to  the  reiterated  assertions 
of  Colonizationists  on  this  subject.  These  gentlemen  are 
fond  of  representing  the  Southern  masters  as  unfortunately 


82  ATTACHMENT  TO  SLAVERY. 

burthcned  with  a  grievous  load,  which  they  are  impatient 
to  shuke  off;  and  from  which  no  other  human  agency  than 
the  Society  can  possibly  relieve  them.  Granting  the  pre 
mises,  we  see  what  sort  of  relief  the  Society  is  capable  of 
affording.  We  have  intentionally  removed  one  diiliculty, 
that  we  might  consider  another.  Let  us  now  reverse  the 
supposition,  and  admitting  the  ability  of  the  Society,  imme 
diately  to  transport  to  Africa,  and  there  maintain  all  the 
slaves  in  the  United  States,  let  us  inquire  how  the  consent 
of  the  masters  is  to  be  obtained. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  Society  has  studiously 
avoided  every  measure  to  obtain  such  consent,  and  boasts 
that  it  addresses  arguments  to  no  master.  But  if  we  are 
to  believe  Colonizationists,  no  arguments  are  necessary  to 
induce  the  masters  to  liberate  their  slaves.  Our  sympathy 
is  perpetually  demanded,  not  for  the  slave,  but  his  unfor 
tunate  master,  who  is  imploring  the  Society  to  deliver  him 
from  the  curse  entailed  upon  him  by  his  ancestors  !  So  far 
from  slaveholders  wishing  to  abolish  slavery,  they  are 
endeavoring  to  transmit  it  as  a  precious  inheritance  to  their 
latest  posterity.  As  we  have  already  observed,  we  do  not 
solicit  the  reader's  belief  in  any  assertion  we  may  make, 
until  we  have  demonstrated  its  truth  ;  and  we  ass-ert  that 
there  is  a  general  disposition  among  slaveholders,  to  per 
petuate  slavery.  We  know,  and  cheerfully  acknowledge, 
that  there  are  exceptions,  but  we  believe  they  are  exceed 
ingly  rare.  The  whole  tendency  of  slave  legislation,  is  to 
rivet  the  chains  of  its  victims.  Hence  the  cruel  obstacles  it 
raises  to  manumission,  and  the  wicked  efforts  it  makes  to 
brutalize  the  human  mind.  But  not  contented  with  holding 
their  own  slaves  with  an  iron  grasp,  they  have  striven,  and 
with  woful  success,  to  extend  the  curse  beyond  their  own 
borders.  When  Missouri  was  to  be  admitted  into  the 
Union,  every  slave  representative  in  Congress,  without  one 
solitary  exception,  Colonizationist  or  not,  voted  to  render  it 
a  slave  State.  So  anxious  was  Virginia,  to  strengthen  the 
slave  interest,  ihat  rebellion  and  civ  il  war  were  the  price  she 
was  willing  to  pay  for  another  mart  in  human  flesh.  Her 
House  of  Delegates,  "Resolved,  that  the  General  Assembly 
of  Virginia,  will  support  the  good  people  of  Missouri,  in 
their  just  rights,  and  admission  into  the  Union,  and  will 


ATTACHMENT  TO  SLAVERY.  83 

co-operate  with  them  in  RESISTING  WITH  MANLY  FORTI 
TUDE  any  attempt  which  Congress  may  make  to  impose  re 
straints,  or  restrictions  on  the  price  ol  their  admission,  not 
authorized  by  the  great  principles  of  the  constitution,  and 
in  violation  of  their  rights,  liberty,  and  HAPPINESS  !" 

General  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  of  South-Carolina,  in  a 
public  address,  delivered  in  1824,  maintained  that  slavery, 
as  it  exists  in  that  State,  is  "  no  greater  or  more  unusual 
evil,  than  befalls  the  poor  in  general ;  that  its  extinction 
would  be  attended  with  calamity  to  the  country,  and  to  the 
people  connected  with  it,  in  every  character,  and  relation ; 
that  no  necessity  exists  for  such  extinction — that  slavery  is 
sanctioned  by  the  Mosaic  dispensation — that  it  is  a  fulfill 
ment  of  the  denunciation,  pronounced  against  the  second 
son  of  Noah — that  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  genius  and 
spirit  of  Christianity,  nor  considered  by  St.  Paul  as  a  mo 
ral  evil."  Address  before  the  Agricultural  Society  of  South 
Carolina. 

Governor  Miller,  of  South  Carolina,  in  his  message  to  the 
Legislature  in  1829,  remarks, 

44  Slavery  is  not  a  national  evil ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a 
NATIONAL  BENEFIT.  Slavery  exists  in  some  form  every 
where,  and  it  is  not  of  much  consequence  in  a  philosophical 
point  of  view,  whether  it  be  voluntary  or  involuntary.  In 
a  political  point  of  view,  involuntary  slavery  has  the  ad 
vantage,  since  all  who  enjoy  political  liberty,  are  then  in 
fact  free." 

It  gives  us  pleasure  to  state,  that  the  African  Repository, 
pronounces  the  doctrines  of  Messrs.  Pinckney  and  Miller 
44  abominable."  We  have  explained  in  our  introduction, 
the  tacit  compact,  by  which  Colonizationists  are  never  to 
defend  slavery  in  the  abstract,  nor  condemn  it  in  particu 
lars.  A  scrupulous  observance  of  this  compact,  enabled 
the  Repository  to  exclaim,  with  great  truth,  when  accused 
of  hostility  to  slaveholders,  44  Have  we  sought  to  render 
the  owners  of  slaves  odious,  by  retailing  anecdotes  of  their 
cruelty  ?  Every  honorable  man  will  do  us  the  justice  to 
answer  no."  Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  59. 

But  the  question  is,  not  what  Mr.  Gurley  thinks  of  these 
doctrines,  but  how  they  are  regarded  by  slaveholders.  Now 
there  is  no  evidence,  that  General  Pinckney's  rank  in  Ca- 


84  ATTACHMENT  TO  SLAVERY, 

rolina  society,  was  affected  by  his  "  abominable"  doctrines; 
on  the  contrary,  judging  from  the  eulogium  pronounced  at 
his  decease,  he  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  distinguish 
ed  and  pious  members  of  the  slaveholding  community. 
And  so  far  were  the  people  of  Carolina  from  being  offended, 
by  the  "  abominable"  doctrines  of  their  governor,  that  after 
his  term  of  service  expired,  they  elected  him  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States. 

Governor  Hayne,  of  the  same  State,  in  his  message  to 
the  Legislature,  (1833,)  labors  to  prove,  that  slavery  adds 
to  the  military  strength  of  a  nation,  and  concludes  with  de 
claring  that  **  the  existence  of  slavery  in  the  South,  is  not 
only  to  be  regarded  as  an  evil  not  to  be  deplored,  but  that 
it  brings  along  corresponding  advantages,  in  elevating 
the  character,  contributing  to  the  wealth,  enlarging  the 
resources,  and  adding  to  the  strength  of  the  State  in  which 
it  exists." 

It  must  be  confessed,  these  are  strange  sentiments  to  be 
advanced  by  the  chief  magistrates  of  a  people  who  regard 
slavery  as  a  curse,  and  are  anxious  to  colonize  their  slaves. 
Let  us  now  attend  to  the  official  declarations  of  the  pre 
sent  Governor  of  South  Carolina  ;  and  see  what  comment 
they  afford  on  the  supposed  desire  of  the  slave  holders  to 
get  rid  of  their  slaves,  a  supposition  on  which  the  whole 
theory  of  abolition  by  Colonization  is  founded. 

"It  is  demonstrable  that  cotton  could  not  be  produced  by 
the  labor  of  hired  freemen  for  double  the  average  price  it 
has  commanded  for  ten  years  past. — It  is  obvious  that  the 
abolition  of  that  kind  of  labor  which  is  the  basis  of  our 
wealth  and  prosperity,  would  annihilate,  at  a  single  blow, 
that  entire  branch  of  foreign  commerce  which  brings  the 
industry  of  the  exporting  States  into  competition  with  that 
of  the  manufacturing  States — I  am  thoroughly  convinced 
that  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery,  paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem,  is  an  indispensable  element  in  an  unmixed  re 
presentative  republic.  How  SACRED  is  OUR  OBLIGATION 
to  provide  for  our  POSTERITY  all  the  necessary  means  of 
defending  and  preserving  an  institution,  as  essential  to  their 
existence  and  to  their  liberty,  as  it  is  obnoxious  to  the  pre 
judices  of  those  who  have  the  greatest  possible  facilities 
for  assailing  it."  Inaugural  Speech,  Dec.  1834. 


ATTACHMENT  TO  SLAVERY.  86 

In  December  last,  a  lecture  on  "  Domestic  Slavery,"  was 
delivered  before  "  the  Law  Class  of  William  and  Mary  Col 
lege,"  and  published  in  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger, 
for  January,  1835.  The  following  introductory  passage 
will  help  to  show  the  feeling  that  is  cherished  at  the  South. 
''This  subject,  (slavery,)  is  too  interesting  to  be  passed  in 
silence.  The  time  too  is  rife  with  proofs,  that  unless  we 
mean  tamely  to  surrender  a  most  important  interest,  we 
must  hold  ourselves  always  on  the  alert  to  DEFEND  it 
with  tongue  and  pen/' 

A  few  years  since,  the  State  of  Louisiana  passed  a  law, 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves  from  other  States,  but 
the  extension  of  the  sugar  cultivation,  demanding  more  la 
bor,  the  law  was  repealed  in  1833,  and  this  State  is  now 
importing  multitudes  of  slaves  from  Maryland  and  Virginia. 
Soon  after  the  repeal  of  the  law,  2000  were  offered  for  sale 
in  New  Orleans,  in  the  course  of  a  single  week  I 

We  may  judge  how  anxious  the  people  of  Louisiana  are 
to  send  their  slaves  to  Africa,  from  the  following  notice  of 
a  late  sale,  in  New  Orleans  : 

Willis,  18  years  old,  brought     -     -     -     $1400 

Jack,  29 1200 

Adam,  20 1300 

Tom,  16 1175 

Dick,  30 1000 

Bill,  14 -.;,-;    660 

Malmda,  29 ^.*rf'^w"     50° 

A  letter  from  an  intelligent  gentleman,  personally  ac 
quainted  with  the  state  of  slavery  at  Natchez,  says:  "The 
prospects  of  the  blacks  in  the  South-west,  are  gloomy  in 
the  extreme.  Cotton  can  be  afforded  at  6  cents  per  pound; 
last  year,  (1832,)  it  was  worth  from  9  to  13  cents;  this 
year  it  is  worth  from  14  to  18  cents.  Last  year  about 
1000  negroes  were  sold  in  Natchez,  and  I  am  confident 
1500  will  be  disposed  of  in  that  market  this  year.  In  my 
opinion,  the  slaves,  if  ever  free,  will  owe  their  liberty  to 
their  own  strength  and  the  blessing  of  Heaven  ;  for  their 
masters,  as  a  Methodist  minister  once  expressed  it,  think 
8 


86  ATTACHMENT  TO  SLAVERY. 

6nly  of  making  more  cotton,  to  buy  more  negroes,  to  make 
more  cotton,  to  buy  more  negroes." 

So  far  are  masters  from  wishing  to  send  their  negroes  to 
Africa,  that  they  are  continually  increasing  their  stock,  and 
hence  slaves  are  rising  in  value.  A  late  Georgia  paper  an 
nounces,  that  at  a  sale  of  71  negroes,  of  all  ages  and  kinds, 
the  average  price  was  438  dollars. 

A  convention  has  recently  been  held  in  Tennessee,  for 
amending  the  State  Constitution,  and  one  amendment  is,  a 
prohibition  to  the  Legislature  to  abolish  slavery  ! 

The  Augusta  Chronicle,  (Geo.)  of  Oct.  1833,  says  :  "  Wre 
firmly  believe,  that  if  the  Southern  States  do  not  quickly 
unite  and  declare  to  the  North,  if  the  question  of  slavery 
be  longer  discussedin  any  shape,  they  will  instantly  secede 
from  the  Union  ;  that  the  question  must  be  settled,  and  very 
soon,  by  the  SWORD,  as  the  only  possible  means  of  self- 
preservation  !" 

The  Richmond  Enquirer  and  the  Washington  Globe,  are 
both  mightily  indignant  at  the  proposition  that  Congress 
should  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

So  far  is  it  from  being  true,  as  stated  by  Colonization- 
ists,  that  the  South  is  ready  to  surrender  its  slaves,  that 
every  day  affords  new  proofs  that  the  public  sentiment  both 
at  the  North  and  the  South,  is  now  more  tolerant  to  slavery 
than  at  any  other  period  during  the  last  thirty  years.  Who 
believes,  that  even  ten  years  ago,  any  Connecticut  Legisla 
ture  would  have  ventured  to  pass  the  Black  Act ;  or  that 
Judge  Daggett  himself  would  have  pronounced  his  porten 
tous  and  extraordinary  opinion  ?  At  what  time,  before  the 
influence  of  the  Colonization  Society  was  felt  throughout 
Our  land,  did  the  citizens  of  the  North  merit  or  receive 
Such  commendations  from  the  slave  press  as  the  following  ? 

"  Public  sentiment  at  the  North,  in  reference  fo  Southern 
interests,  was  never  in  a  sounder  state  than  it  is  now. 
"jThe  language  of  the  Northern  press  is  cheering  in  the  ex 
treme, — the  feeling  in  favor  of  the  South,  and  against  the 
abolitionists,  is  deep  and  almost  universal."  Charleston 
Courier,  2lst  July,  1834. 

When,  until  late  years,  have  the*Governors  of  even  slave 
States,  dared  to  promulgate  such  "  abominable"  doctrines^ 
fes  those  we  have  quoted? 


VIRGINIA  AND  MARYLAND  COLONIZATION.  <$f 

Unless  we  greatly  deceive  ourselves,  we  have  now  shown 
th»at  no  desire  exists  at  the  South  to  get  rid  of  slavery,  at 
leas.t  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  Colonization  in  the  re 
motest  degree  instrumental  in  abolishing-  it:  and  it  is  an 
unquestioned  fact,  that  in  eighteen  years  only  about  900  ma 
numitted  -slaves  have  been  seat  ,to  Africa.  But  certain  laws 
have  been  recently  passed  by  Virginia  and  Maryland,  which 
are  triumphantly  cited  by  Colonizationists  as  proofs  of  the 
growing  desire  at  the  South  to  abolish  slavery, — a  desire 
which  is  attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  Society. 

The  law  of  Virginia  appropriates  18,000  dollars  a  year 
for  five  years,  for  .the  transportation  of  colored  persons  to 
Africa.  Now  it  is  evident  that  the  effect  of  this  law  upon 
slavery  in  Virginia,  must  depend  on  the.  class  of  colored 
persons  to  be  transported.  Will  it  be  believed,  that  this 
law,  received  with  such  joy  and  triumph  by  Colonizationists,, 
confines  the  application  of  its  appropriation  to  the  removal 
of  such  blacks  as  were  free  at  the  date  of  its  passage.  In 
other  words,  it  declares  to  the  slaveholders,  "  We  will  not 
assist  you  in  manumitting  your  slaves."  By  a  previous 
law,  any  manumitted  slave,  who  does  not  leave  the  State  in 
twelve  months,  becomes  again  a  slave  :  this  new  law  pm- 
vides  that  such  a  manumitted  slave  shall  not  be  sent  to 
Africa, — of  course  it  affords  no  possible  inducement  or  jfa- 
cility  whatever  to  manumission  ;  and  its  whole  operation  is 
confined  to  the  removal  of  nuisances, — and  we  have  already 
seen,  from  the  avowal  of  members  of  the  Legislature,  that 
this  removal  is  virtually  to  be  compulsory.  The  philan 
thropy  that  rejoices  in  such  a  lav/,  is  indeed  of  a  peculiar 
«ast,  but  it  is  the  philanthropy  of  "the  benevolent  Coloni 
zation  system."* 

The  Maryland  law,  of  1832,  appropriates  200,000  dol 
lars,  to  be  applied  through  the  agency  of  the  Maryland  Cor 
lonization  Society,  to  the  removal  to  Africa,  of  "  the  people 
of  color  now  free,  and  such  as  shall  hereafter  become  so." 

On  the  20th  January,  1833,  the  American  Colonization 

*  A  party  writer,  in  a  late  number  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  says: 
"An  opposition  man,  who  stated  in  the  spring  that  he  considered  the 
removal  of  the  deposites  as  affecting  the  value  of  his  property  30  per  cent., 
admits  now,  that  he  never  saw  a  MORE  WHOLESOME  STATE  OP  THINGS.; 
negro  boys  and  men  will  fetch  from  600  dollars  to  700  dollars."  Is  Virgi 
nia  sick  of  this  wholesome  state  of  things  1 


$8  MARYLAND  COLONIZATION. 

Society  "  Resolved,  that  the  Society  view  with  the  highest 
gratification,  the  continued  efforts  of  the  -State  of  Maryland 
to  accomplish  her  patriotic  and  BENEVOLENT  SYSTEM  in  re- 
•gard  to  her  colored  population  ;  and  that  the  last  appropria 
tion  by  that  State  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  aid 
of  African  Colonization,  is  hailed  by  the  friends  of  the  sys 
tem  as  a  BRIGHT  EXAMPLE  to  other  States." 

Let  us  now  examine  this  "  benevolent  system,"  this 
"  bright  example,"  and  see  how  it  accords  with  Christian 
love  and  sincerity. 

In  forming  our  opinion  of  the  true  character  of  this 
scheme,  it  will  not  be  improper  to  take  into  consideration 
the  avowed  motives  which  gave  it  birth.  The  Legislature, 
in  their  session  of  1831,  adopted  the  following  resolutions  : 

"  Resolved,  that  the  increased  proportion  of  the  free 
people  of  color,  in  this  State,  to  the  white  population — the 
evils  growing  out  of  their  connexion  and  unrestrained  as 
sociation  with  the  slaves,  their  habits  and  manner  of  obtain 
ing-  a  subsistence,  and  their  withdrawing  A  LARGE  PORTION 
of  employment  from  the  laboring  class  of  the  white  popu 
lation,  are  subjects  of  momentous  and  grave  consideration 
to  the  good  people  of  this  State. 

"  Resolved,  that,  as  philanthropists  and  lovers  of  freedom, 
we  deplore  the  existence  of  slavery  among  us,  and  would 
use  our  utmost  exertions  to  ameliorate  its  condition :  yet 
we  consider  the  unrestricted  power  of  manumission  as 
fraught  with  ultimate  evils,  of  a  more  dangerous  tendency 
than  the  circumstance  of  slavery  alone  ;  and  that  any  act, 
having  for  its  object  the  mitigation  of  these  joint  evils,  not 
inconsistent  with  other  paramount  considerations,  would  be 
worthy  the  attention  and  deliberation  of  the  representatives 
of  a  free,  liberal-minded,  and  enlightened  people." 

Another  resolution  followed,  declaring  that,  by  the  Co 
lonization  of  free  people  of  color  in  Africa,  "  these  evils 
may  be  measurably  diminished,"  and  a  committee  was  ap 
pointed  to  frame  a  bill  upon  "  the  principles"  of  these  re 
solutions. 

Such,  then,  are  the  principles  of  the  Maryland  benevo 
lent  system;  and  which  of  them  is  derived  from  the  gospel 
of  Christ  ?  So  far  as  the  system  relates  to  the  free  blacks, 
it  proposes  their  removal,  not  out  of  kindness  to  them,  but 


MARYLAND  COLONIZATION.  89 

because  they  are  supposed  to.be  injurious  to  slave  proper 
ty ;  because  their  habits  and  manner  of  obtaining-  a  sub 
sistence,  the  necessary  results  of  wicked  laws,  are  vicious  ; 
and  because  they  enter  into  competition  with  wh;ite  laborers. 
This  last  accusation  against  the  free  blacks,  is  a.,most  extra 
ordinary  one,  whe^i  made  by  a  people,  who  Keep  in  their 
employment  more  than  O.NE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  BLACK 
LABORERS,  who  toil  without  wages,  and  subsist  on  .the  scan 
tiest  fare,;  and  yet  the  interference '  tf  these  laborers  with 
"  the  laboring  class  of  the  white  population,"  occasions  no 
ppeas.in.ess,  and  leads  to  no  jiffifn:  for -their  removal.  Ajid 
what  are  the  principles  of  this  system  with,  regard  to  .slaves  ? 
Why,  that  it  is  worse  to  give  a  slave  hrl.  liberty  here,  than 
to  keep  him  in  bondage;  but  at  the.  same  time,  that  "  the 
utmost  exertions"  ought  tp  be  made  to  "ameliorate  his  con 
dition."  Let  us  ppw  proceed  to  the  practical  application 
of  these  principles.  At  the  next  session,  a  report  was  pre- 
sente<J.,  in  which  calculations; .are  entered  into,  to  show  that 
"the  WHOLE  of  this  population  (of  free  Blacks)  can  l>e, re 
moved  in  the  course  of'";6ne"  generatjon  .alone."  But  the 
Legislators  are  philanthropists  oand  Jpvers  of  freedom,  and 
deplore  the  existence  of  slavery,  ^et  us  see  how  the  com 
mittee  propose ^to  remove  this  deplored  evil.  The  report 
says  pjf  the  slaves,  "  they  are  property,  and  must  .be  so  re 
garded,  .and  without  their  owiicrs^  consent-,  none  of  them 
.can.be  to.ucjiejd." 

Here  we  have  a  principle  which  secures  to  Maryland  the 
blessings  of  slavery  forever.  In  no  country  in  the  world, 
in  ancient  or  modern  times,  has  slavery  been  abolished  by 
the  unanimous  consent  of  slaveholders.  Never  has  it  been 
peaceably  abolished  but  by  Jaw.  The  Northern  .and  East 
ern  States  could  abolish  slavery  without  the  consent  of  the 
owners  :  the  Republican  States  of  South  America-  could  dp 
the  same  :  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  can  rule  fifty  thou 
sand  of  their  free  colored  citizens  with  a  rod  of  iron,  can 
deny  them  the  most  common  and  inestimable  rights  of  hu 
manity  ;  but  it  cannot  rescue  a  human  being  from  unmerit 
.ed  and  involuntary  bondage  ! 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  fampus  appropriation  act.  By 
this  act,  masters  are  allowed  to  manumit  their  slaves,  bi:t 
4hen  the  manumitted  slaves  are  to  be  transported  beyond 


''90  MARYLAND  COLONIZATION. 

the  limits  of  the  State;  and  should  a  parent  or  a  child,  a 
husband  or  a  wife,  shudder  at  parting  forever  from  a  near 
and  dear  relative,  the  separation  may  be  avoided  by  a  re 
nunciation  in  open  court  of  the  newly  acquired  liberty,  and 
a  public  consent  to  continue  a  slave  !  Such  is  the  bearing 
of  this  benevolent  system  on  slavery.  Let  us  now  contem 
plate  its  effects  on  the  free  black.  The  appropriation  bill 
authorizes  no  compulsion,  and  imposes  no  penalties  on  a  re 
fusal  to  go  to  Africa.  It  was  not  expedient  that  this  bill 
should  contain  such  provisions,  and  therefore  they  were  in 
serted  in  another  bill  passed  by  the  same  Legislature,  and 
within  two  days  of  the  other,  entitled,  "An  act,  relating  to 
free  negroes  and  slaves."  This  act,  like  the  Connecticut 
Black  Act,  is  a  bold  and  flagrant  violation  of  the  constitu 
tional  rights  of  free  citizens.  A  citizen  of  New  York,  if 
his  complexion  be  colored,  may  not  visit  a  dying  child  or 
parent  in  IVhrryland,  without  incurring  a  penalty  of  fifty 
dollars  for  every  week  he  remains,  and  if  he  is  unable  to 
pay  the  fine,  why  then  he  is  to  be  sold  by  the  sheriff  at  pub 
lic  sale  for  such  time  as  may  be  necessary  to  cover  the 
aforesaid  penalty.  But  if  a  free  negro  is  sold  for  a  limited 
time,  he  is,  in  fact,  SOLD  FOR  LIFE.  During  the  term  for 
which  he  is  sold,  he  is  a  chattel,  and  may  be  transported  at 
the  pleasure  of  his  master ;  and  when  the  expiration  of  his 
term  finds  him  in  a  cotton  field  in  Missouri,  or  a  sugar  mill 
in  Louisiana,  who  is  to  rescue  hirn  from  interminable  bon 
dage?  Should  a  colored  citizen  of  Maryland  cross  its 
boundary  on  business,  ever  so  urgent  to  himself  and  family, 
on  returning  to  his  home,  more  than  a  month  after,  he  also  is 
liable  to  be  seized  and  SOLD,  unless  previous  to  his  depar 
ture  he  had  complied  with  certain  vexatious,  legal  formali 
ties  ;  and  which,  from  ignorance,  he  would  be  extremely 
likely  to  neglect,  or  perform  imperfectly. 

A  striking  illustration  of  this  "  benevolent  system"  lately 
occurred.  A  free  colored  man,  living  near  the  line  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  petitioned  the  Maryland  House  of  Dele 
gates  for  leave  to  bring  his  grandchild  from  the  City  of  Wash 
ington.  The  child  had  probably  been  left  an  orphan,  and  he 
naturally  wished  to  take  it  into  his  own  house.  The  petition 
was  rejected  ! ! 

A  brisk  slave  trade  is  carried  on  between  Maryland  and 
.the  Southern  States  ;  and  it  is  well  known,  that  free  ne- 


MARYLAND    COLONIZATION.  91 

groes  arc  often  the  victims  of  this  trade ;  instances  occur 
ring  of  whole  families  being  kidnapped.  Under  such  cir 
cumstances  many  would  wish  to  have  the  means  of  pro 
tecting,  if  necessary,  the  freedom  of  themselves  and  child 
ren  ;  but  the  new  bill  forbids  them  to  keep  any  military 
weapon,  without  a  special  licence  from  a  county  court,  or 
city  corporation  ;  a  condition  amounting  virtually  to  a  total 
prohibition.  No  free  negro  may  attend  a  religious  meet 
ing  not  conducted  by  a  white  person. 

As  the  law  thus  discourages,  and  in  a  great  measure  pro 
hibits  religious  instruction,  exhortation,  and  social  prayer, 
among  fifty  thousand  of  the  population  of  Maryland,  no 
wonder  it  presumes  every  one  of  that  fifty  thousand  to  be  a 
thief.  Hence  no  person  may,  under  the  penalty  of  five 
dollars,  buy  of  a  free  negro  "  any  bacon,  pork,  beef,  mut 
ton,  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  rye,  or  oats,"  unless  he  shall  at 
the  time  exhibit  a  certificate  from  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  or 
•  three  respectable  persons,  that  he  or  they  believe  the  said 
negro  came  honestly  by  the  identical  article  offered  for  sale. 

Such  are  some  of  the  features  of  this  law,  and  they  are 
well  calculated  to  induce  the  free  negroes  to  avail  them 
selves  of  the  benevolent  and  munificent  provision  made  by 
the  other  law  for  their  transportation  to  Africa.  The  con 
cluding  section,  however,  is  the  most  operative  of  the 
whole,  and  promises  to  afford  ample  employment  for  the 
'two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  to  furnish  Liberia  with 
an  abundant  population.  It  is  ^s  follows  : 

"  Sect.  12.  And  be  it  enacted,  that  if  any  free  negro  or 
mulatto  shall  be  convicted  of  ANY  crime,  committed  after 
the  passage  of  this  act,  which  may  not,  under  the  laws  of 
this  State,  be  punished  by  hanging  by  the  neck,  such  free 
negro  or  mulatto  may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court,  be  sen 
tenced  to  the  penalties  and  punishments  now  provided  by 
law,  or  be  banished  from  this  state,  OR  BE  TRANSPORTED 

INTO  SOME  FOREIGN  COUNTRY. 

Hence,  if  a  free  negro  steals  a  pound  of  tobacco,  he  may 
be  shipped  off  to  Liberia.  In  civilized  countries,  it  has 
'been  the  aim  of  the  legislature,  to  apportion  punishments 
to  crimes,  but  Maryland  has  set  "a  bright  example"  of  a 
simplification  of  the  criminal  code,  without  a  parallel  in  the 
history  of  jurisprudence.  She  tells  her  Judges,  "  in  the 
case  of  free  black  offenders,  you  need  give  yourselves  no 


92  MARYLAND  COLONIZATION. 

trouble  in  comparing  the  different  shades  of  guilt,  and 
weighing  those  circumstances  which  aggravate  or  mitigate 
the  offence.  In  certain  cases  you  must  hang  them,  in  all 
others,  without  exception,  you  may  send  them  to  Africa." 

This  is  the  "  benevolent  system,"  the  "  bright  example" 
lauded  by  the  American  Colonization  Society.  This  is  the 
system  -which  is  cited  as  a  proof,  that  Maryland  desires  to 
abolish  slavery.  A  symptom  of  this  desire  occurred  in  the 
Maryland  House  of  Delegates,  in  1834.  Mr.  Mann  moved 
an  inquiry  into  the  expediency  of  abolishing  slavery,  after 
a  certain  period.  So  great  was  the  excitement  produced 
by  this  motion,  that  the  mover  withdrew  it,  and  the  minute 
of  the  motion  was  expunged  from  the  j.o.urnaL 

The  200,000  dollars,  it  seems,,  are  entrusted  to  the  Mary.- 
land  Colonization  Society^  and  that  Society,  wishing  still 
farther  to  increase  its  funds,  has  ar£>e.aled  to  the  benevo.- 
lence  of  the  North.  The  appeal  is  -founded  on  two  so,- 
lemn  official  declarations  ;  first,  that  it  aims  at  the  extirpa 
tion  of  slavery -in  Maryland,  by  .Colonization  ;  and  second 
ly,  that  it  contemplates  --•'  founding-a  nation  on  the  principle 
of  temperance." 

We  have  seen  that  a  committee  of  the  Maryland  legisla 
ture  insisted  on  the  possibility  of  the  removal  of  the  whole 
free  >blaek .population  in  one  generation.  The  .Society,  in 
their  address,  repeatedly  declare  their  (ibject  to  be  the  ex 
tirpation  of  slavery  -by  Colonization  ;  and  the  legislature 
forbids,  as  we  have  also  seen,  manumission  at  home.  Ol 
course,  slavery  can  only  be  extirpated  by  the  removal,  not 
of  a  select  portion,  but  of  all  the  slaves. 

In  what  terms  ought  we  then  to^speak  of  the  folloMring 
resolution  of  the  Maryland  Society,  published  to  conciliate 
the  friends  of  temperance  at  the  North  ? 

"Whereas  it  is  desired  that  the  settlement  about  to  be 
made  by  .this  Society,  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  become 
a  moral  and  temperate  community  ;  and  as  this  is  to  be  ef 
fected,  in  a  great  degree,  by  the  character  of  the  emigrants, 
who  leave  America  for  a  new  home  in  Africa  :  and  whereas, 
the  sad  experience  of  this  country  has, shown  the  demorali 
sing  effects  of  the  -use  of  ardent  spirits,  Be  it  resolved,  that 
no  emigrant  shall  be  permitted  to  go  from  Maryland  to  a 
settlement  from  this  Society  in  Africa,  who  will  not  lir%t 
dbmd  himself,  or  herself,  to  abstain  therefrom." 


MARYLAND  COLONIZATION.  93 

So  the  Society  is  to  carry  to  Africa  100,000  slaves,  and 
thus  exterminate  slavery  in  their  State;  and  yet  they  will 
positively  refuse  to  carry  one  of  them  until  he  has  taken 
the  temperance  pledge.  But  what  if  a  portion  of  them 
will  not  consent  to  take  the  pledge  ;  must  slavery  continue, 
or  must  means  be  taken  to  coerce  their  consent  ? 

None  but  those  wilfully  blind,  can  examine  this  subject 
without  seeing,  that  the  measures  adopted  by  Virginia  and 
Maryland,  are  mere  contrivances  to  get  rid  of  the  free 
blacks  ;  and  far  more  disgraceful  in  the  latter,  than  in  the 
former  case,  because  more  disguised  by  insincere  profes 
sions. 

The  New-York  Journal  of  Commerce,  a  Colonization 
paper,  had  the  candor  in  speaking  on  the  subject,  to  re 
mark,  "  It  is  true  these  states  do  not  propose  to  resort,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  compulsory  measures  ;  but  does  any 
one  doubt  that  they  will  resort  to  such  measures,  if  the 
number  of  volunteer  emigrants  should  not  be  sufficient  to 
exhaust  the  appropriations  made  for  their  removal."  And 
a  Baltimore  paper,  (the  Chronicle,)  alluding  to  the  Mary^ 
land  acts,  avows,  "  The  INTENTION  of  those  laws  was, 
and  their  effect  must  be,  to  EXPEL  the  free  people  of  color 
from  the  state." 

Yet  do  these  cruel  arid  perfidious  measures  receive  the 
support  and  approbation  of  the  Colonization  Society. 

There  is  still  a  powerful  objection  to  the  whole  Coloni 
zation  scheme,  as  a  means  of  removing  slavery,  to  which 
we  have  not  yet  adverted.  No  principle  of  political 
economy  is  more  obvious  than  that  prices  depend  on  sup 
ply  and  demand.  If  the  first  is  diminished,  while  the  lat 
ter  is  increased,  or  even  remains  stationary,  prices  neces 
sarily  rise.  We  can  all  understand,  that  should  half  the 
sheep  in  the  United  States  be  suddenly  destroyed,  or  car 
ried  out  of  the  country,  the  value  of  the  remaining  half 
would  instantly  be  enhanced.  So  also,  we  have  no  diffi 
culty  in  seeing,  that  should  the  cholera  sweep  off  from  the 
Southern  plantations,  two  or  three  hundred  thousand 
slaves,  there  would  be  an  increased  activity  in  the  man- 
market,  and  human  flesh  would  rise  many  per  cent,  in  price. 
Yet  it  seems  never  to  occur  to  Colonizationists,  that  were 
it  possible  for  them  to  produce  any  sensible  diminution  of 
.the  slaves  by  transportation,  the  same  consequences  would 


94  COLONIZATION  THE  ONLY  MODE 

follow.  The  society  propose  reducing  the  number  of  la 
borers,  but  without  diminishing  the  demand  for  them.  Let 
us  suppose  every  free  negro,  safely  landed  at  Liberia — of 
course  all  the  laborers  remaining  in  the  cotton  and  sugar 
fields  of  the  South,  are  slaves.  Now  the  society  is  gradually 
sending  away  these  slaves,  not  by  freeing  at  once  any  town  or 
county  from  them,  but  by  picking  them  up  throughout  the 
whole  slave  region,  as  it  can  meet  with  conscientious  mas 
ters  ;  taking  a.  few  in  one  place,  and  a  few  in  another  ;  now 
stripping  a  plantation  of  its  slaves  in  Virginia,  and  now  in 
Missouri.  This  indiscriminate  mode  of  obtaining  emigrants, 
necessarily  and  absolutely  prevents  the  substitution  of  white 
for  black  labor.  The  plantations  thus  divested  .of  labor 
ers,  must  remain  barren  till  new  slaves  are  procured. 
But  the  proprietor  is  too  conscientious  to  buy  any,  and  is 
hence  compelled  to  sell  his  estate.  The  purchaser  imme 
diately  goes  into  the  market  to  re-stock  the  farm.  Others 
do  the  same,  and  hence  arises  a  new  demand  for  slaves,  and 
.of  course  an  increase  of  their  value.  But  as  slaves  grow 
more  and  more  valuable,  the  disposition  to  make  presents 
of  them  to  the  Colonization  Society,  will  decline.  Thus 
does  the  inevitable  mercantile  operation  of  the  society,  in 
dependent  of  all  moral  considerations,  necessarily  tend  to 
defeat  its  object.  The  idea  of  abolishing  slavery,  by  in 
creasing  the  demand  for  slaves,  is  about  as  wise,  as  would 
•be  a  /plan  for  lessening  the  circulation  of  infidel  books,  by 
raising  a  fund  for  their  purchase.. 

We  have  now  examined  the  means  by  which  the  society 
proposes  to  effect  the  removal  of  slavery,  and  trust  we  have 
shown  their  utter  worthlessness.  Were  the  impractica 
bility  of  this  scheme,  its  only  objection,  the  friends  of  hu 
manity  and  religion  would  not  be  called  on,  as  they  now 
are,  to  meet  it  with  unrelenting  hostility— to  labor  without 
rest,  and  without  weariness,  for  its  entire  prostration.  Alas, 
though  powerless  for  good,  it  is  mighty  for  evil ;  and  its 
baneful  influence  is  leading  multitudes  of  good  and  well 
intentioned  men,  unconsciously  to  countenance  doctrines 
and  measures,  necessarily  tending  to  perpetuate  slavery  and 
all  its  abominations  in  our  land.  This  is  an  assertion,  that 
ought  not  rashly  to  be  made,  nor  hastily  believed.  We  ap 
peal  to  common  sense,  and  undisputed  facts. 

Admitting  that  Colonization  could;  in  the  course  of  ages, 


OF  ABOLITION.  9& 

Extirpate  slavery,  ought  we,  therefore,  to  reject  every  means 
of  shortening  the  sufferings  of  the  slave,  by  hastening  his 
liberation  ?  But  Colonizationists,  not  content  with  insist 
ing  on  the  efficiency  of  their  own  plan,  discourage  and  op 
pose  every  other.  Now  should  their  plan  prove  delusive, 
after  the  lapse  of  centuries,  their  influence  in  preventing 
the  adoption  of  any  other,  will  have  been  fatal,  as  far  as  it 
may  have  gone,  to  the  freedom  of  millions. 

44  It  (Colonization)  is  the  ONLY  possible  mode  of  eman 
cipation  at  once  safe,  and  rational,  that  human  ingenuity 
can  devise."  Speech  of  Mr.  Custiss.  13th  Report,  p. 
tiii. 

"  Colonization  is  the  ONLY  expedient  by  which  these 
evils  can  be  mitigated."  Speech  of  J.  A.  Dix.  Af.  Rep. 
IV.  168. 

"  To  this  country  it  offers  the  ONLY  possible  means  of 
gradually  ridding  ourselves  of  a  mighty  evil."  1st  Rep. 
N.  Y.  Colonization  Society. 

"  The  Colonizing  scheme,  leading  as  it  does  to  volun 
tary  manumission,  is  the  ONLY  one  which  true  wisdom  can 
dictate."  Speech  of  Mr.  Key,  Vice  President.  Af.  Rep. 
IV.  p.  299. 

"I  would  urge  this  system  of  Colonization  upon  your 
notice,  as  the  ONLY  rational  plan  which  has  yet  been  sug* 
gested  for  relieving  our  Southern  brethren  from  the  curse  of 
slavery."  Speech  of  Chancellor  Walworth  of  N.  Y. 

"  The  only  rational  and  practical  plan  ever  devised  for 
the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  independent  States." 
N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer,  12th  May,  1834.  A  Coloni 
zation  paper. 

"  This  great  end  (abolition)  is  to  be  attained  in  NO 
OTHER  way  than  by  a  plan  of  extensive  Colonization." 
Letter  of  R.  G.  Harper,  V.  President.  %d  Rep.  p.  iii. 

4'  In  our  opinion,  the  Colonization  Society  presents  the 
ONLY  safe  and  feasible  plan  for  the  liberation  of  our  slaves 
from  bondage."  Report  of  Wilmington  Col.  Society, 
Af.  Rep.  IX.  319. 

We  have  seen  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  moral  influ* 
ence  of  this  only  rational  plan  in  favor  of  abolition  ;  let  us 
now  examine  that  which  it  exerts  in  behalf  of  slavery. 

In  the  first  place,  we  ask,  what  must  be  the  natural 


96  THE  SOCIETY  DISCLAIMS  EMANCIPATION. 

effect  on  public  opinion  of  such  disclaimers  as  the  follow 
ing  ? 

<k  It  is  no  Abolition  Society  :  it  addresses,  as  yet,  argu 
ments  to  no  master.  It  denies  the  design  of  attempting 
emancipation  partial  or  general"  Address  of  J.  B.  Har 
rison  to  Lynchburgh  Col.  Society.  Af.  Rep.  III.  197. 

"Into  their  (the  Society's)  accounts,  the  subject  of  eman 
cipation  does  not  enter  at  all."  Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  306. 

"  The  friends  of  Colonization  wish  to  be  distinctly 
understood  on  this  point.  From  the  beginning,  they  have 
disavowed,  and  they  do  yet  disavow,  that  their  object  is  the 
emancipation  of  slaves. 'T  Speech  of  J.  S.  Green,  before 
the  New  Jersey  Society. 

"  From  its  origin,  and  throughout-  the  whole  period  of 
its  existence,  it  has  constantly  disclaimed  all  intention 
whatever  of  interfering  in  the  smallest  degree  with  the 
rights  of  property,  or  the  object  of  emancipation  gradual 
or  immediate."  Speech  of  Mr.  Clay,  V.  President.  Af. 
Rep.  VI.  p.  13. 

"  Recognizing  the  constitutional  and  legitimate  exist 
ence  of  slavery,  it  seeks  not  to  interfere,  directly  or  indi 
rectly,  with  the  rights  it  creates."  Af..  Rep.  III.  p.  16. 

"  He  considered  himself  publicly  pledged,  so  long  as  he 
had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  Society,  to  resist  every  at 
tempt  to  connect  it  Avith  emancipation,  either  in  theory  or 
practice."  Speech  of  Gen.  Jones,  a  Manager  of  the  Am. 
Col.  Soc.  23d  Jan.  1834. 

"  The  emancipation  of  slaves,  or  the  amelioration  ot 
their  condition,  with  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  political 
improvement  of  the  people  of  color  within  the  Unitec? 
States,  are  objects  foreign  to  the  powers  of  this  Society.'* 
Address  of  the  Board  of  Managers  to  its  Auxiliaries. 
Af.  Rep.  VII.  p.  291. 

Thus  we  see,  the  friends  of  the  Society  utterly  deny 
that  emancipation,  partial  or  general,  gradual  or  immediate, 
direct  or  indirect,  in  theory  or  in  practice,  is  included 
among  its  objects  ;  and  yet  the  Society  "  is  the  ONLY  pos 
sible  mode  of  emancipation  at  once  safe  and  rational,  that 
human  ingenuity  can  devise  !" 

A  worthy  Vice  President  of  the  Society,  Mr.  G.  Smith, 
remarked  :  "  They  who  denounce  us  for  not  favoring  or 


SLAVES  ADMITTED  TO  BE  PROPERTY.         97 

promoting  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  might  just  as  well 
denounce  the  Bible  or  Temperance  Society,  because  they 
do  not  step  out  of  their  respective  spheres,  to  favor  or 
promote  the  emancipation  of  slaves."  Af.  Rep.  IX.  p.  358. 

But  what  if  a  Bible  or  a  Temperance  Society  should  an 
nounce  itself  to  the  world,  as  about  to  abolish  slavery  ; 
should  declare  itself  to  be  the  ONLY  possible  instrument  by 
which  slavery  could  be  abolished  ;  and  should  oppose  and 
ridicule  the  employment  of  any  other  instrument,  and 
should  then  falsify  all  its  professions,  and  exert  its  influ 
ence  to  justify  and  perpetuate  slavery  ! 

Instead  of  denouncing  the  society  for  not  stepping  out 
of  its  sphere  to  favor  or  promote  the  emancipation  of  slaves, 
we  denounce  it  for  leaving  that  sphere,  and  for  favoring 
and  promoting  continued  slavery.  The  professed  consti 
tutional  object  of  the  society,  is  the  colonization  of  free 
blacks  and  manumitted  slaves.  We  fully  admit,  it  has  no 
more  right  to  meddle  with  emancipation  or  slavery,  than 
a  Bible  Society  ;  and  we  condemn  it,  because  disregarding 
its  professed  object,  and  in  utter  contempt  of  its  own  Con 
stitution,  it  has  lent  itself  to  support  and  perpetuate  a 
system  of  cruelty  and  wickedness.  It  is  painful  to  make 
these  assertions,  but  duty  requires  them,  and  facts  justify 
them.  We  will  now  proceed  to  show,  that  the  society, 
(and  by  the  term  we  intend  Colonizationists  generally)  has 
stepped  out  of  its  sphere  to  acknowledge,  that  man  may 
have  property  in  man  ;  to  justify  him  for  holding  this  pro 
perty  ;  and  to  vilify  all  who  would  persuade  him  instantly 
to  surrender  it. 

"  We  hold  their  slaves,  as  we  hold  their  other  property, 
SACRED."  Speech  of  J.  S.  Green  before  N.  Jersey  Col. 
Soc.  Af.  Rep.  I.  p.  283. 

"  To  the  slave  holder,  they  (the  society)  address  them 
selves  in  a  tone  of  conciliation  and  sympathy.  We  know 
your  RIGHTS,  say  they,  and  we  RESPECT  them."  Af.  Rep. 
VII.  p.  100. 

"  The  rights  of  the  masters  are  to  remain  SACRED  in  the 
eyes  of  the  society."  Address  of  Rockbridge  Col.  Soc. 
Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  274. 

"  We  decline  assenting  to  the  opinion  of  some  aboli 
tionists,  that  though  the  master's  right  over  his  living  slaves 
9 


99         SLAVES  ADMITTED  TO  BE  PROPERTY. 

should  be  conceded,  yet  he  has  no  claim  of  property  in  the 
unborn,  for  the  reason,  that  there  can  be  no  property  in  a 
thing  not  in  esse.  This  position  is  wholly  untenable,  under 
any  jurisprudence."  Am.  Quar.  Review^  transferred  to 
Af.  Rep.  IX.  p.  35. 

The  right  of  property  in  human  flesh,  cannot  surely  be 
more  sacred  than  that  in  RUM  ;  and  yet  it  would  sound 
strange,  to  hear  a  religious  society  addressing  the  rum- 
seller,  in  a  tone  of  conciliation  and  sympathy,  and  assuring 
him  that  they  regarded  his  property  in  rum  as  sacred,  and 
respected  his  right  to  traffic  in  it. 

If  it  be  a  question,  whether  man  can  lawfully  have  pro 
perty  in  man,  who  authorized  the  society  to  settle  it  ? 
That  it  is  a  question,  is  evident  from  the  following  excla 
mation  of  Lord  Chancellor  Brougham,  in  one  of  his  speeches. 
"  Talk  not  of  the  property  of  the  planter  in  his  slaves.  I 
deny  the  right — I  acknowledge  not  the  property."  And 
yet  the  right  of  the  West  Indian  and  the  Virginia  planter, 
rested  on  precisely  the  same  basis,  the  sanction  of  human 
laws. 

Not  only  does  the  society  acknowledge  slaves  to  be 
property,  but  it  excuses  and  justifies  those  wno  hold  this 
property. 

No  motive  can  operate  so  powerfully  in  inducing  a  mas 
ter  to  liberate  his  slaves,  as  the  conviction  that,  by  retaining 
them,  he  is  acting  contrary  to  the  will  of  his  Maker,  and 
exposing  himself  to  his  displeasure. 

In  a  manual  of  devotion,  lately  published  by  the  excel 
lent  Bishop  Meade  of  Virginia,  himself  a  zealous  Coloniza- 
tionist,  there  is  a  prayer  to  be  used  by  the  head  of  a  family. 
This  prayer,  intended  expressly  for  the  slave  region,  has 
this  affecting  petition  :  "  O  heavenly  Master,  hear  me  while 
I  lift  up  my  heart  in  prayer,  for  those  unfortunate  beings 
who  call  me  master.  O  God,  make  known  unto  me  my 
whole  duty  towards  them  and  their  oppressed  race,  and 
give  me  courage  and  zeal  to  do  it  at  all  events.  Convince 
me  of  sin,  if  I  be  wrong  in  retaining  them  another  moment 
in  bondage" 

It  is  observable,  that  in  this  prayer,  the  slaveholder, 
when  in  communion  with  his  Maker,  far  from  claiming  a 
sacred  right  of  property  in  his  fellow  immortals,  dares  not 


MANUMISSION  DISCOURAGED.  99 

make  any  claim  to  them  whatever,  but  alludes  to  them  as 
those  "who  call  me  master."  It  is  also  obvious,  that  the 
question  of  immediate  emancipation  is  pressing  on  his  con 
science,  and  fearful  lest  lie  is  committing  sin  in  holding 
slaves  "  another  moment,"  he  implores  the  Divine  guidance. 
He  will,  of  course,  seek  for  light  wherever  it  may  be  found, 
and  will  naturally  turn  to  the  Colonization  Society,  to  learn 
the  opinion  of  the  eminent  men  who  belong  to  it,  on  this 
momentous  subject.  Now  let  us  see  what  opiates  that  So 
ciety  administers  to  quiet  his  uneasy  conscience,  and  to  lull 
it  in  profound  repose. 

First,  he  is  assured,  that  by  freeing  his  slaves,  he  would 
be  guilty  of  great  inhumanity  towards  them. 

"  The  very  commencing  act  of  freedom  to  the  slave,  is 
to  place  him  in  a  condition  still  worse,  if  possible,  both  for 
his  moral  habits,  his  outward  provision,  and  for  the  com 
munity  that  embosoms  him,  than  even  that,  deplorable  as  it 
was,  from  which  he  has  been  removed."  Address  to  Col. 
Soc.  in  N.  Carolina.  Af.  Rep.  III.  p.  66. 

"What  but  sorrow  can  we  feel  at  the  misguided  piety 
which  has  set  so  many  of  them  free  by  death-bed  devise,  or 
sudden  conviction  of  injustice?"  Address  to  Lyncliburgh 
Col.  Soc.  Af.  Rep.  lit.  p.  193. 

"  There  are  in  the  United  States  238,000  blacks  deno 
minated  free,  but  whose  freedom  confers  on  them,  we 
might  say,  no  privilege  but  the  privilege  of  being  more 
vicious  and  miserable  than  slaves  can  6e."  Rev.  Mr.  Ba- 
con  of  New  Haven.  7th  Rep.  p.  99. 

"  Policy,  and  even  the  voice  of  humanity,  forbade  the 
progress  of  manumission."  Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  268. 

"  It  would  be  as  humane  to  throw  them  from  the  decks 
in  the  middle  passage,  as  to  set  them  free  in  our  country." 
Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  226. 

Was  Washington  wanting  in  humanity,  when  he  liberated 
all  his  slaves  ;  and  was  lie  surpassed  in  benevolence  by  his 
nephew,  the  President  of  the  Society,  who  avowed  his  in 
tention  of  never  giving  freedom  to  any  of  his?  Was  it 
"misguided  piety"  that  induced  Jefferson  to  set  his  free  by 
his  last  will?  Was  it  an  act  of  perfidious  cruelty  in  the 
State  of  Georgia  to  purchase  the  freedom  of  a  slave,  who 
had  disclosed  an  intended  conspiracy ;  thus  under  the  pre- 


100  SLAVERY  EXCUSED. 

tence  of  rewarding  him,  perpetrating  an  act  as  inhuman  as 
throwing  a  fellow  being  from  the  decks  in  the  middle  pas 
sage  ?  Is  the  recent  act  of  North  Carolina,  in  paying  1800 
dollars  for  the  freedom  of  a  slave,  who  had,  with  singular 
intrepidity,  preserved  a  public  building  from  fire,  of  the 
same  character? 

Much  as  we  respect  Mr.  Bacon's  character,  we  cannot 
but  believe,  that  could  his  sincerity  be  tested  by  his  being 
compelled  to  choose  between  being  a  slave  in  Louisiana,  or 
a  free  black  even  in  Canterbury,  he  would  prefer  the  latter 
alternative.  It  is  the  more  remarkable,  that  Mr.  Bacon 
should  have  been  led  to  make  such  unadvised  assertions, 
when  New-Haven  itself,  afforded  full  proof  of  their  incor 
rectness.  Hear  the  testimony  of  his  estimable  and  distin 
guished  fellow  townsman,  Professor  Silliman. 

"  We  need  not  look  far  from  home  to  see  the  pleasing 
effects  of  the  benevolent  and  disinterested  exertions  of  an 
eminent  friend*  of  the  Africans,  aided  by  others  of  a  kin 
dred  spirit — it  is  delightful  to  the  benevolent  mind,  to  see 
so  many  of  our  colored  people  living  in  neat  and  comforta 
ble  dwellings,  furnished  in  decent  taste,  and  in  sufficient  ful 
ness  ;  thus  indicating  sobriety,  industry,  and  self-respect ; 
to  see  their  children  in  clean  attire,  hastening  on  a  Sabbath 
morning  to  the  Sunday  school,  and  on  other  days,  with 
cheerful  and  intelligent  faces,  seeking  the  common  school." 
Silliman1  s  4th  of  July  Oration,  1832. 

The  slaveholder  is  farther  instructed  by  the  Society,  that 
the  continuance  of  slavery  here,  is  at  present,  and  under 
existing  circumstances,  unavoidable,  and  that  he  is  perfect 
ly  excusable  and  innocent,  in  keeping  his  fellow  men  in 
bondage  ;  and  that  all  the  cruel  laws  relative  to  slave 
ry  are  right  and  proper.  Is  all  this  calumny  ?  attend  to 
the  testimony. 

"  Slavery  is  an  evil  entailed  upon  the  present  generation 
of  slaveholders,  which  they  must  suffer,  whether  they  will 
or  not."  Af.  Rep.  V.  p.  179. 

"The  existence  of  slavery  among  us,  though  not  at  all 
to  be  objected  to  our  Southern  brethren  as  a  fault ."  Ad* 

*  The  Rev.  S.  S.  Jocelyn,  an  active  and  public  opponent  of  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society. 


SLAVERY  EXCUSED.  101 

dress  of  New  York  Colonization  Society.     African  Rep. 
VII.  p.  136. 

May  we  ask,  how  came  the  states  of  Missouri,  Alabama, 
and  Mississippi,  which  within  thirty  years  were  nearly  in  a 
state  of  nature,  to  be  now  thronged  with  slaves  ? 

"  It  (the  Society)  condemns  no  man  because  he  is  a  slave 
holder."  Editorial  article— Af.  Rep.  VII.  p.  200. 

"Acknowledging  the  necessity  \>y  which  its  (slavery)  pre 
sent  continuance,  and  rigorous  provisions  for  its  mainte 
nance,  are  justified."  Af.  Rep.  III.  p.  16. 

"  It  is  the  business  of  the  free,  their  safety  requires  it, 
to  keep  the  slaves  in  ignorance."  Proceedings  of  N.  Y. 
Col.  Soc.  2d  Ann. 

"  The  laws  of  Virginia  now  discourage,  and  very  wisely, 
perhaps,  the  emancipation  of  slaves."  Speech  of  Mr. 
Mercer,  V.  President,  I.  Rep. 

"  They  (the  Abolitionists)  confound  the  misfortunes  of 
one  generation  with  the  crimes  of  another."  Af.  Rep.  VII. 
p.  202. 

"  We  all  know  from  a  variety  of  considerations,  which  it 
is  unnecessary  to  name,  and  in  consequence  of  the  policy 
which  is  obliged  to  be  pursued  in  the  Southern  States,  that 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  free  a  slave  ;  and  hence  the  enatfi- 
ment  of  those  laws,  which  a  fatal  necessity  seems  to  de 
mand."  Af.  Rep.  II.  p.  12. 

•'  I  am  not  complaining  of  the  owners  of  slaves:  they 
cannot  get  rid  of  them."  Address  before  Hampden  Col. 
Soc.  Af.  Rep.  IV.  p.  226. 

"  There  are  men  in  the  Southern  States,  who  long  to 
do  something  effectual  for  the  benefit  of  their  slaves,  and 
would  gladly  emancipate  them,  did  not  prudence  and  com 
passion  forbid  such  a  measure."  I.  Report,  p.  100.  App. 

"  Suppose  the  slaves,  of  the  South  to  have  the  know 
ledge  of  freemen,  they  would  be  free,  or  exterminated  by 
the  whites.  This  renders  it  necessary  to  prevent  their  in 
struction,  and  to  keep  them  from  Sunday  schools,  or  the 
means  of  gaining  knowledge."  Proceedings  of  N.  York 
Col.  Soc.  2d  Ann.  Rep. 

"  The  treatment  of  the  slaves  is  in  general  as  good  as 
circumstances  and  the  cruel  necessity  of  the  case  will  per 
mit."  Proceedings  of  N.  York  Col.  Soc.  2d  Ann. 


102  COLONIZATION    PROMOTES 

'•  We  believe  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  moral  tur 
pitude  in  holding  slaves,  under  existing  circumstances,  in 
the  south."  Af.  Rep.  IX.  p.  4. 

Thus  do  we  find  the  whole  system  of  American  slavery 
justified  on  the  tyrant's  plea,  necessity.  But  this  is  not  all. 
The  Scriptures  themselves  are  wrested  to  confound  those 
who  recommend  abolition. 

The  President  of  the  Geneva  Colonization  Society, 
S.  M.  Hopkins,  Esq.,  in  an  address  delivered  5th  August, 
1834,  and  published  by  request  of  the  society,  after  citing 
various  texts  to  prove  slavery  warranted  by  the  Bible,  thus 
goes  on : 

"  Here  are  then  five  places  in  the  New  Testament, 
where  the  duty  of  servants  (slaves)  is  expressly  and  formal 
ly  treated  by  way  of  precept,  and  one  case  of  example, 
making  six  in  all.  In  every  one,  the  duty  of  obedience  is 
insisted  on,  and  in  one  or  more,  where  the  duty  of  masters 
is  treated,  there  is  not  the  least  reference  nor  hint  of  the 
idea,  that  Christian  masters  should  manumit  their  slaves  ; 
much  less  that  other  Christians  should  preach  manumission. 
But  I  go  farther ;  as  I  understand  the  Epistle  to  Timothy, 
and  as  it  is  understood  by  such  commentators  as  I  have 
consulted,  there  is  an  express  injunction,  applicable  to  those 
times  and  circumstances,  NOT  TO  PREACH  MANUMISSION."* 

We  will  not  trouble  ourselves  at  present  with  Mr.  Hop- 
kins's  theology  ;  but  we  may  surely  be  permitted  to  inquire, 
how  it  comes  that  the  Constitution  forbids  Colonizatiomsts 
to  recommend  and  promote  abolition,  but  gives  them  full 
liberty  to  oppose  ii  ?  Why  is  the  Constitution  sacred,  only 
when  it  guards  the  interests  and  soothes  the  conscience  of 
the  slave  holder ;  and  why  is  it  a  thing  of  nought,  when 
Colonizationists  would  empty  the  vials  of  their  wrath  upon 
the  heads  of  those  who  proclaim  the  sinfulness  of  slavery, 
and  the  duty  and  policy  of  immediate  emancipation.! 

*  Mr.  Hopkins  professes  to  be  opposed  to  Slavery,  all  this  Scripture  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

t  It  is  due  to  candor  to  state,  that  all  the  principles  imputed  in  this  work 
to  Colonizationists,  are  not  held  by  them  indiscriminately.  A  few  indivi 
duals  have  honorably  and  publicly  disclaimed  one  or  more  of  them.  These 
disclaimers  have  however  been  made,  we  believe,  without  an  exception, 
since  the  discussions  excited  by  Abolitionists.  No  doubt  many  members 
would  indignantly  reject  the  doctrines  on  which  we  have  commented.  The 
pious  and  well-intentioned  supporters  of  the  Society,  are  just  beginning  to 


THE    INTEREST    OF  SLAVEHOLDERS.  103 

Let  us  now  scrutinize  a  little  this  plea  of  necessity,  which 
is  urged  by  Colonizationists  with  so  much  confidence  in 
behalf  of  slavery.  Does  a  Christian  Society,  do  ministers 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  maintain  that  it  is  ever  necessary 
to  violate  the  command  of  Jehovah — necessary  to  keep 
millions  in  ignorance  of  the  revealed  will  of  God  ?  Neces 
sary  to  trample  upon  human  rights,  and  to  outrage  the 
plainest  principles  of  justice  and  humanity  ?  Do  Protestants 
insist,  that  it  is  necessary  to  deny  the  Bible  to  more  than 
one  third  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Southern  States  ?  What 
necessity  required  that  Missouri  should  be  a  slave  state  ? 
What  necessity  multiplied  the  slaves  in  Alabama  and  Mis 
sissippi  from  three  thousand  to  one  hundred  and  eighty-two 
thousand,  since  the  year  1800  ?  What  necessity  prevented 
Kentucky  from  liberating  her  twelve  thousand  slaves  in 
1790,  when  New  York  could  liberate  ten  thousand  in  one 
day  in  1827?  What  necessity  will  render  Florida  and  Ar 
kansas  slave  states  ?  Why  did  not  necessity  prevent  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  South  America,  Mexico,  and  the 
West  Indies? 

The  Society,  whose  moral  influence  is  to  free  us  from 
slavery,  not  only  quiets  the  conscience  of  the  slaveholder, 
by  showing  the  lawfulness  of  slavery,  but  it  promises  to  en 
hance  the  value  of  slave  labor,  and  to  divest  it  of  a  portion 
of  that  danger  which  usually  attends  it.  Let  us  see  how 
Colonization  promotes  the  interests  of  slaveholders  ;  and 
let  us  attend,  in  the  first  instance,  to  Mr.  Archer  of  Vir 
ginia. 

"  He  was  not  one  of  those  (however  desirable  it  might 
be,  and  was  in  abstract  speculation)  who  looked  to  the 
complete  removal  of  slavery  among  us.  If  that  consumma 
tion  were  to  be  considered  feasible  at  all,  it  was  at  a  period 
too  remote  to  warrant  the  expenditure  of  any  resources  of 
contemplation  or  contribution  now.  The  progress  of  slavery 
was  subjected  to  the  action  of  a  law  of  the  utmost  regu 
larity  of  action.  Where  this  progress  was  neither  stayed 
nor  modified  by  causes  of  collateral  operation,  it  hastened 
with  a  frightful  rapidity,  disproportioned  entirely  to  the 

understand  its  true  character,  and  hence  the  numerous  converts  from  Co 
lonization  within  the  last  twelve  months. 


104  COLONIZATION    PROMOTES 

ordinary  law  of  the  advancement  of  population,  to  its  catas 
trophe,  which  was  repletion. 

"  If  none  were  drained  away,  slaves  became,  except 
under  peculiar  circumstances  of  climate  and  production, 
inevitably  and  speedily  redundant,  first  to  the  occasions  of 
profitable  employment,  and  as  a  consequence,  to  the  facility 
of  comfortable  provision  for  them.  No  matter  what  the 
humanity  of  the  owners,  fixed  restriction  on  their  resources 
must  transfer  itself  to  the  comfort  and  subsistence  of  the 
slave.  At  this  last  stage,  the  evil  in  this  form  had  to  stop. 
When  this  stage  had  been  reached,  what  course  or  remedy 
remained  ?  Was  open  butchery  to  be  resorted  to,  as  among 
the  Spartans  with  the  Helots  ?  or  general  emancipation  and 
incorporation,  as  in  South  America?  or  abandonment  of 
the  country  by  the  masters,  as  must  come  to  be  the  case  in 
tne  We,°t  Indies  ? 

"  Either  of  these  was  a  deplorable  catastrophe.  Could 
all  of  them  be  avoided,  and  if  they  could,  how?  There  was 
but  one  way,  but  that  might  be  made  effectual,  fortunately. 
Jt  was  to  provide  and  keep  open  a  drain  for  the  excess  of 
increase  beyond  the  occasions  of  profitable  employment. 
This  might  be  done  effectually  by  extension  of  the  plan  of 
the  society.  *  *  *  *  After  the  present  class  of  free 
blacks  had  been  exhausted  by  the  operation  of  the  plan  he 
was  recommending,  others  would  be  supplied  for  its  action, 
in  the  proportion  of  the  excess  of  the  colored  population  it 
would  be  necessary  to  throw  off,  by  the  process  of  volun 
tary  manumission  or  sale.  This  effect  must  result  from 
the  depreciating  value  of  the  slaves,  ensuing  their  dispro 
portionate  multiplication.  This  depreciation  would  be  re 
lieved  and  retarded  at  the  same  time  by  the  process.  It 
was  on  grounds  of  interest,  therefore,  the  most  indispensa 
ble  PECUNIARY  INTEREST,  that  he  addressed  himself  to  the 

PEOPLE      AND       LEGISLATURES      OF      THE     SLAVE      HOLDING 

STATES."     15th  Report,  p.  22. 

However  we  may  be  surprised  at  the  indiscretion  of  the 
managers  in  printing  and  circulating  this  speech  with  their 
annual  report,  we  cannot  but  admire  its  honest  frankness. 
Here  is  no  colonization  poetry,  but  plain  common  sense 
prose.  No  pictures  of  the  African  Elysium, — no  anticipa 
tions  of  the  conversion  of  millions  and  millions  of  Pagans, 


THE   INTEREST  OF  SLAVES  HOLDERS.  105 

but  intelligent  remarks  on  the  true  means  of  perpetuating 
slavery,  and  keeping  up  the  price  of  slaves.  Knowing  the 
utter  futility  of  abolishing  slavery  by  Colonization,  Mr. 
Archer  will  not  expend  on  that  topic  even  his  "  contempla 
tion."  But  the  time  will  come  when  negroes  will  be  so 
plenty,  that  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  either  work  or  food  for 
them  ;  and  this  state  of  things,  if  not  prevented,  will  lead 
to  the  abolition  of  slavery.  But  the  society  may  prevent 
such  a  result  by  sending  off  the  free  blacks,  and  after  they 
are  gone,  by  sending  off  such  slaves  as  may  be  manumit 
ted  ;  and  by  keeping  open  this  drain,  the  undue  multiplica 
tion  of  slavery  will  be  prevented,  and  their  depreciation  in 
the  market  arrested. 

Let  us  now  attend  to  the  managers  themselves.  In  the 
2d  Report,  p.  9,  they  declare  that  they  confidently  believe 
that  the  "  Colonization  of  the  free  people  of  color,  will 
render  the  slave  who  remains  in  America,  more  obedient, 
more  faithful,  more  honest,  and  consequently  more  useful 
to  his  master." 

"  By  removing  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  discontent 
(free  blacks)  from  among  our  slaves,  we  should  render 
them  more  industrious  and  attentive  to  our  commands.1'' 
Address  of  Putnam  (Georgia)  Col.  Society. 

"  What  greater  pledge  can  we  give  for  the  moderation 
and  safety  of  our  measures,  than  our  own  interests  as  slave 
holders,  and  the  ties  that  bind  us  to  the  slave  holding  com 
munity  to  which  we  belong."  Speech  of  Mr.  Key,  Vice 
Prest.  llth  Report,  p.  14. 

"  The  injury  they  (the  free  blacks)  do  to  the  slavehold 
ers'  property,  by  their  influence  upon  his  servants,  would, 
if  valued,  amount  to  more  than  sufficient  to  convey  them 
from  us."  Address  of  Rev.  J.  C.  Young  to  Col.  Soc.  Af. 
Rep.  IX.  59. 

'*  To  remove  these  persons  from  among  us,  will  increase 
the  usefulness,  and  improve  the  moral  character  of  those 
who  remain  in  servitude,  and  with  whose  labors  the  coun 
try  is  unable  to  dispense."  Address  to  a  N.  Carolina  Col. 
Soc.  Af.  Rep.  III.  67. 

"  None  are  obliged  to  follow  our  example,  and  those 
who  do  not,  will  find  the  value  of  their  negroes  increased, 
by  the  departure  of  ours."  Kentucky  Luminary. 


106  SAFETY  OF  SLAVEHOLDERS. 

"  The  free  negroes  corrupt  our  slaves.  From  what  has 
been  adduced,  the  expediency  of  removing  this  NUISANCE 
from  the  community  is  clearly  inferable,  both  in  relation  to 
their  interests  and  ours  ;  and  this  can  only  be  attained  by 
means  of  the  Colonization  Society."  Internal  Improve 
ments  of  South  Carolina,  by  Robert  Mills,  p.  15. 

So  much  for  the  moral  influence  of  the  Society  in  abo 
lishing  slavery,  by  rendering  it  profitable.  Now  for  its 
agency  in  rendering  it  safe. 

"The  tendency  of  the  scheme,  and  one  of  its  objects,  is 
to  SECURE  slaveholders,  and  the  whole  southern  country, 
against  certain  evil  consequences  growing  out  of  the  present 
threefold  mixture  of  our  population."  Address  of  a  Vir 
ginia  Col  Soc.  Af.  Rep.  IV.  274. 

"  By  removing  these  people,  (free  blacks,)  we  rid  our 
selves  of  a  large  party  who  will  always  be  ready  to  assist 
our  slaves  in  any  mischievous  design  they  may  conceive." 
Address  to  a  Col.  Soc.  in  Virginia.  Af.  Rep.  I.  176. 

"  Are  they  (the  free  blacks)  VIPERS,  sucking  our  blood  ? 
We  will  HURL  them  from  us."  Address  to  Lynchburg 
Col  Soc.  Af.  Rep.  III.  201. 

"  By  thus  repressing  the  rapid  increase  of  blacks,  the 
white  population  would  be  enabled  to  reach,  and  soon  over 
top  them  ;  the  consequence  would  be  SECURITY."  Af.  Rep. 
IV.  344. 

"  The  removal  of  every  single  free  black  in  America, 
would  be  productive  of  nothing  but  SAFETY  to  the  slave- 
Bolder."  Af.  Rep.  III.  202. 

"  So  far  from  having  a  dangerous  tendency,  when  pro 
perly  considered,  it  will  be  viewed  as  an  additional  guard 
to  our  peculiar  species  of  property."  New-Orleans  Argus. 

"  They  (the  objects  of  the  American  Colonization  So 
ciety)  are  in  the  first  place  to  aid  ourselves,  by  relieving 
us  from  a  species  of  population  (free  blacks)  pregnant  with 
future  danger.11  Speech  of  Gen.  Harper,  Vice  President. 
11th  Report,  p.  7. 

"  I  am  a  Virginian.  I  dread  for  her  the  corroding  evil 
of  this  numerous  caste,  (free  blacks.)  I  tremble  for  the 
danger  of  a  disaffection  spreading  through  their  seduction, 
among  our  servants,11  Address  of  I.  B.  Harrison.  Af. 
Rep.  III.  197, 


EMANCIPATION  CONDEMNED.  107 

Thus  does  the  society  aim  at  abolishing  slavery,  by  de 
claring  it  lawful ;  increasing  its  profits,  and  lessening  its 
dangers;  and  as  we  shall  presently  see,  covering  with  oblo 
quy,  and  denouncing  as  fanatics,  all  who  dissent  from  its 
assertion,  that  this  is  "  the  only  possible  mode"  of  reliev 
ing  the  country  from  slavery. 

And  why  is  it  the  only  possible  mode  ?  Because  the 
laws  of  most  of  the  slave  states  prohibit  manumission  at 
home,  and  therefore  no  master  in  those  states  could  liberate 
his  slaves,  did  not  the  society  enable  him  to  evade  the  law, 
by  sending  his  slaves  to  Africa.  But  who  made  these  laws  ? 
Slaveholders.  Who  alone  can  repeal  these  laws?  Slave 
holders.  Then  slaveholders  prevent  themselves  from  libe 
rating  their  slaves  ;  and  hence  it  is  optional  with  them  to 
grant  manumission  or  not.  Of  course  Colonization  is  not 
the  only  possible  mode  of  effecting  abolition,  since  tae 
slaveholders,  if  they  pleased,  might  easily  discover  "  a  more 
excellent  way." 

It  will  not  probably  be  denied,  that  he  who  recommends 
a  wicked  act,  or  applauds  it  after  it  is  committed,  partici 
pates  in  the  guilt  of  it ;  and  as  by  the  confession  of  Coloni- 
zationists,  the  laws  in  question  prevent  abolition,  those  who 
advise  or  approve  those  laws,  partake  of  the  guilt  of  con 
tinuing  slavery.  Let  us  now  inquire  in  what  relation  the 
Colonization  Society  stands  to  these  laws. 

In  the  first  place,  let  it  be  recollected  that  several  of  the 
Legislatures  by  whom  these  laws  have  been  enacted,  or  by 
whom  they  are  kept  in  force,  have  decidedly  approved  of 
the  Society.  Now  listen  to  the  official  declaration  of  the 
Board  of  Managers. 

"  The  Managers  could  with  no  propriety  depart  from 
their  original  and  avowed  purpose,  arid  make  emancipation 
their  object.  And  they  would  further  say,  that  if  they 
were  not  thus  restrained  by  the  terms  of  their  association, 
they  would  still  consider  any  attempts  to  promote  the  in 
crease  of  the  free  colored  population  by  manumission,  un 
necessary,  premature,  and  dangerous  "  Memorial  of  the 
American  Col.  Soc.  to  the  several  State  Legislatures.  AJ 
Rep.  II.  60. 

We  find  here  an  illustration  of  the  remarks  in  our  intro 
duction,  on  the  convenient  restraints  of  the  Constitution. 


108  EMANCIPATION  CONDEMNED. 

The  managers  are  restrained  f.  om  promoting  emancipation 
by  the  Constitution,  but  they  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  pro 
mote  the  permanency  of  slavery,  by  denouncing  manumis 
sion.  And  to  whom  is  this  denunciation  made  ?  To  the 
very  Legislatures  who  are  striving  to  effect  the  same  object 
by  the  laws  we  have  mentioned.  And  yet  Colonizationists 
mourn  over  the  misfortune  of  the  master  who  is  prevented 
by  law  from  liberating  his  slaves  !  But  perhaps  the  lan 
guage  we  have  quoted  was  used  inadvertently,  and  does  not 
represent  the  sentiments  of  Colonizationists  generally. 
Let  us  see. 

•*  This  law,  (a  law  of  Virginia,  by  which  a  manumitted 
negro  becomes  again  a  slave  if  he  remains  twelve  months 
in  the  state,)  odious  and  unjust  as  it  may  at  first  view  ap 
pear,  and  hard  as  it  may  seem  to  bear  upon  the  liberated 
negro,  was  doubtless  dictated  by  sound  policy,  and  its  re 
peal  would  be  regarded  by  none  with  more  unfeigned  regret 
than  the  friends  of  African  Colonization.  It  has  restrained 
many  masters  from,  giving  freedom,  to  their  slaves,  and  has 
thereby  contributed  to  check  the  growth  of  an  evil  already 
too  great  and  formidable."  Memorial  from  Powhattan 
Col.  Soc.  to  Virginia  Legislature. 

"  To  set  them  (the  slaves)  loose  among  us,  would  be  an 
evil  more  intolerable  than  slavery  itself."  Report  of  Ken 
tucky  Col.  Soc.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  81. 

"  As  long  as  our  present  feelings  and.  PREJUDICES  exist, 
the  abolition  of  slavery  cannot  be  accomplished  without 
the  removal  of  the  blacks."  2d  Report  N.  York.  Soc. 

"  If  the  question  were  submitted,  whether  there  should 
be  either  immediate  or  gradual  emancipation  of  all  the 
slaves  in  the  United  States,  without  their  removal,  painful 
as  it  is  to  express  the  opinion,  I  have  no  doubt  that  it 
would  be  unwise  to  emancipate  them."  Speech  of  Mr. 
Clay,  Vice  President,  to  Kentucky  Society.  Af.  Rep. 

vr  5. 

Here  we  find  a  Vice  President  of  the  Parent  Society 
advocating  perpetual  slavery  in  preference  to  even  gradual 
emanciption. 

"  They  (Colonizationists)  entertain  the  opinion  gene 
rally,  that  if  universal  emancipation  were  practicable,  nei 
ther  the  interest  of  the  master,  the  happiness  of  the  slave, 


EMANCIPATION  CONDEMNED.  100 

nor  the  welfare  of  the  colony  which  they  have  at  heart, 
would  make  it  desirable."  Mr.  Barton's  Address  to  a 
Col.  Soc.  in  Virginia.  Af.  Rep.  VI.  291. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  superadd  our  decided  opinion 
that  Colonization  ought  to  keep  equal  pace  with  manu 
mission  of  people  of  color  throughout  the  United  States." 
Proceedings  of  Col.  meeting  at  Plattsburgh,  N.  York,  4th 
July,  1833. 

"Any  scheme  of  emancipation,  without  Colonization, 
they  know  to  be  productive  of  nothing  but  evil."  Speech 
of  Mr.  Key,  a  Vice  President.  Af.  Rep.  IV.  300. 

"  "We  would  say,  liberate  them  ONLY  on  condition  of 
their  going  to  Africa  or  Hayii."  Af.  Rep.  III.  26. 

"I  am  strongly  opposed  to  emancipation  in  EVEUY 
SHAPE  AND  DEGREE,  unless  accompanied  by  Colonization." 
Letter  from  R.  G.  Harper,  V.  President,  to  Secretary  of 
the  Society,  ^th  August,  1817. 

"  It  is  a  well  established  point,  that  the  public  safety 
forbids  either  the  emancipation  or  the  general  instruction 
of  the  slaves."  7th  Report,  p.  94. 

"  So  long  as  we  can  hold  a  pen,  we  will  employ  it  heart 
and  hand,  against  the  advocates  of  immediate  emancipa 
tion,  or  ANY  emancipation  that  does  not  contemplate  expa 
triation."  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer,  a  Col.  paper, 
Wth  July,  1834, 

"  Emancipation,  with  liberty  to  remain  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  is  but  an'  act  of  dreamy  madness."  Speech  ol 
Mr.  Custiss,  13th  Report,  p.  8. 

"  What  right,  I  demand,  have  the  children  of  Africa  to 
a  homestead  in  the  white  man's  country  ?"  Speech  of  Mr. 
Custiss,  14th  Report,  p.  21. 

It  is  a  pity  Mr.  Custiss  does  not.  ask  his  conscience  what 
right  he  has  to  confine  a  child  of  Africa  to  a  homestead  on 
his  own  plantation  ;  and  why  money  was  raised  by  public 
subscription  to  purchase  permission  for  Philip  Lee  to  leave 
a  homestead  to  which  he  had  no  right  ? 

What  abundant    cause    for    gratitude  to  Almighty  God, 
have   the  Northern   States,   that  the  Colonization  scheme 
was   not   devised  some  forty  years  sooner.     Had  the  doc 
trines  taught  by  the  society  been  then  held  by  our  statesmen 
10 


f  10*  THE  SOCIETY  PREVENTS  MANUMISSION. 

And  divines,  the  dark  cloud  of  slavery  would  now  be  brood 
ing  over  our  whole  land. 

We  have  seen  that  the  whole  influence  of  the  society  and 
of  the  colonizing  Legislatures,  is  to  vindicate  and  preserve 
and  enforce  the  laws  against  manumission.  And  now, 
after  defending  and  strengthening  this  barrier  against  hu 
man  freedom,  the  society  glorifies  itself  for  its  benevolence 
ill  having  opened  a  little  crevice  through  which,  in  sixteen 
years,  a  few  hundred  captives,  out  of  millions,  have  escaped  ! 
Had  the  society  and  its  friends  opposed  these  laws,  they 
would  long  since  have  been  swept  away,  and  thousands  and 
fens  of  thousands  would  have  been  free,  who  are  now  pin 
ing  in  bondage.  In  1782,  Virginia  repealed  her  restraining 
law,  and  in  nine  years,  10,000  slaves  were  manumitted. 
The  slaveholders  became  alarmed, — their  vocation  was 
in  danger  of  becoming  disreputable,  and  the  law  was  re- 
enacted.- 

We  have  all  heard  much  of  the  evils  resulting  from  the' 
traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  and  we  know  that  multitudes  ar6 
endeavoring  to  suppress  it,  by  insisting  that  it  is  sinful,  and 
that  Christian  duty  requires  its  immediate  abolition.  Now 
let  us  suppose  a  society  for  abolishing  it,  to  be  formed  on 
fine  model  of  the  Colonization  Society,  and  ask  ourselves 
how  it  would  proceed,  and  what  would  be  the  prospect  of 
its  success.  Such  a  society  would  begin  by  informing  the 
venders,  that  it  held  their  property  in  rum  SACRED,  andre- 
Spected  their  right  to  sell  it, — that  as  yet,  it  addressed  argu 
ments  to  no  vender  to  induce  him  to  abandon  the  traffic. 
That  it  was,  indeed,  a  political  evil,  but  it  was  one  they  had 
unfortunately  engaged  in,  and  which  the  necessities  of 
themselves  and  families  compelled  them  to.  continue  for  the 
present, — that  the  society  condemned  no  m<an  for  being  a 
rum-seller, — -that  it  had  no  connexion  with  the  fanatics  and 
incendiaries  who  denounced  the  business  as  sinful,  and  de 
manded  its  immediate  abolition.  But,  inasmuch  as  the  so 
ciety  knew  that  the  venders  were  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the 
rum  they  unfortunately  possessed,  it  had  appointed  agents 
who  Xvoulcf  gratuitously  afford  their  aid  in  removing  and 
emptying  rum-casks,  and  it  trusted  the  moral  influence  of 
this  proffered  aid  would  in  a  century  or  more,  effect  the  to 
tal  abolition  of  the  traffic. 


ANTI-ABOLITION  ASSOCIATION.  ij| 

'The  absurdity  of  the  conclusion,  in  the  supposed  case* 
is  obvious  ;  and  did  not  prejudice  impair  our  vision,  we 
should  see  an  equal  absurdity  in  the  professed  expectations 
of  Colonizationists.  But  is  our  illustration  a  parallel  case  ? 
No  :  for  our  ideal  society  does  not  profess  to  regard  any 
other  evil  as  greater  than  the  indefinite  continuance  of  the 
traffic,  while  the  real  one  boldly  and  unequivocally  declares 
for  perpetual  slavery  in  preference  to  emancipation,  either 
immediate  or  gradual,  without  expatriation.  Now  if  the 
expatriation  of  the  whole  body  of  slaves  be  both  physicaj- 
ly  and  morally  impossible ;  if  the  slaves  could  not  be  trans 
ported  and  maintained  in  Africa,  were  the  masters  willing 
to  surrender  them;  and  if  the  masters  would  not  sur 
render  them,  even  if  they  could  instantly  be  transported 
and  maintained,  then  it  follows  irresistibly,  that  the  moral 
influence  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  is  to  per 
petuate  slavery  in  the  United  States. 

We  can  scarcely  persuade  ourselves,  that  any  honest  Co^ 
lonizationist  can,  in  view  of  all  the  facts  which  have  been  de 
veloped,  seriously  believe  that  slavery  will  ever  be  removed' 
by  colonization.  Still  there  may  be  some  who  are  indulging 
the  hope,  that  this  scheme  is  promoting  emancipation.  We 
entreat  the  attention  of  such  to  the  proofs  we  will  now 
offer,  that  the  society  is  in  fact 


AN    ANTI-ABOLITION    ASSOCIATION. 

On  the  9,th  January,  1828,  Mr.  Harrison,  of  Virginia,  in 
addressing  the  Society  at  its  annual  meeting,  used  the  fol 
lowing  language  :  "The  Society  having  declared  that  it  is 
in  no  wise  allied  to  any  Abolition  Society  in  America  or 
elsewhere,  is  ready  when  there  is  need,  TO  PASS  A  CENSURE 
upon  such  Societies  in  America."  llth  Report,  p.  14. 

The  pledge  thus  given  in  behalf,  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  society,  was  published  and  circulated  by  the  Board  of 
Managers.  It  was  a  gross  violation  of  the  Constitution, 
and  an  unblushing  outrage  on  the  multiplied  professions  of 
the  society,  that  its  only  object  was  the  Colonization  of 
free  blacks.  But  we  cannot  understand  the  full  meaning 
and  unholy  nature  of  this  pledge,  without  adverting  to  tl\e 


112  CENSURES  ABOLITION  SOCIETIES. 

Abolition  Societies  to  which  it  related.  This  pledge,  be  it 
remembered,  had  no  reference  to  the  associations  now 
known  as  Anti-slavery  Societies,  and  which  are  accused  of 
a  design  to  destroy  the  Union — to  drench  the  land  in 
human  gore,  and  to  produce  by  marriage  an  amalgamation 
of  color.  Such  societies  were  unknown,  such  charges  un 
heard  of,  when  this  pledge  was  given.  The  Abolition  So 
cieties  which  were  to  be  censured,  were  societies  founded 
by  JAY  and  FRANKLIN,  and  which  advocated  gradual 
emancipation. 

The  first  society  ever  formed,  it  is  believed,  for  the  abo 
lition  of  slavery,  was  organized  in  the  city  of  New-York, 
January,  1785,  under  ths  presidency  of  JOHN  JAY.  The 
principles  maintained  by  this  society,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  preamble  to  its  Constitution. 

"  The  benevolent  Creator  and  Father  of  all  men,  having 
given  them  all  an  equal  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  property, 
DO  sovereign  power  on  earth  can  justly  deprive  them  of 
either,  but  in  conformity  to  impartial  government,  and  laws, 
to  which  they  have  expressly  or  tacitly  consented.  It  is 
our  duty,  therefore,  as  free  citizens  and  Christians,  not  only 
to  regard  with  compassion  the  injustice  done  to  those  among 
us,  who  are  held  as  slaves,  but  to  endeavor,  by  lawful 
means,  to  enable  them  to  share  equally  with  us  in  the  civil 
and  religious  liberty  with  which  an  indulgent  Providence 
has  blessed  these  states,  and  to  which  these  our  brethren 
are  by  nature  as  much  entitled  cm  ourselves." 

The  next  Abolition  Society  was  that  of  Pennsylvania, 
founded  in  1787,  under  the  presidency  of  FRANKLIN. 
Slaveholders  were  expressly  excluded.  The  constitution 
declares,  that  it  has  pleased  "  the  Creator  of  the  world 
to  make  of  one  flesh  all  the  children  of  men,"  and 
that  it  is  the  especial  duty  of  those  who  acknowledge  the 
obligations  of  Christianity,  to  use  such  means  as  are  in 
their  power  to  extend  the  blessings  of  freedom  "  to  every 
part  of  our  race." 

Abolition  Societies  gradually  multiplied,  and  exercised 
a  salutary  influence  in  promoting  emancipation  at  the 
North.  But  they  were  not  confined  to  the  North;  they 
soon  sprang  up  in  the  slave  states,  and  scattered  and  feeble 
rays  of  light  began  to  pierce  the  dense  cloud  which  brooded 


FORMER  ABOLITION  SOCIETIES.  113 

over  the  southern  country.  Unity  of  action  and  of  pur 
pose,  was  secured  by  triennial  conventions  of  delegates 
from  the  several  societies.  No  organized  opposition  had 
ever  been  offered  to  these  associations.  The  moral  sense 
of  the. community,  unperverted  by  Colonization,  would  no-t 
then  have  tolerated  the  scenes  we  have  since  witnessed. 
The  respect  in  which  Abolition  Societies  were  held,  is 
evinced  by  the  following  extract  from  the  journals  of  Con 
gress.: 

~"  House  of  Representatives,  18th  Feb.  1809. 

-"  Resolved,  That  the  Speaker  be  requested  to  acknow 
ledge  the  receipt  and  acceptance  of  Clarkson's  History  of 
Slavery,  presented  by  the  American  Convention,  for  pro 
moting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  improving  the  condi 
tion  of  the  Africans,  and  that  the  said  work  be  deposited 
in  the  library."  The  Speaker  accordingly  returned  an 
official  letter- of  thanks  to  the  Convention. 

Only  three  months  before,  Mr.  Harrison,  as  herald  of  the 
Colonization  Society,  proclaimed  war  against  Abolition 
Societies,  the  Convention  met  at  Baltimore,  the  capital  of 
a  slave  state.  To  this  Convention  delegates  or  communica- 
•tions  were  sent  from  the-following  Abolition  Societies,  viz. : 

New-York,  Andover,  Mass. 

Rhode-Island,  Williams  College,  Mass. 

Pennsylvania,  London  Co.,  Virginia, 

Western  Pennsylvania,  N.  Carolina,  with  40  branches>? 
Maryland,  with  5  branches,  Delaware, 

Tennessee,  Centreville,  Penn. 

West  Tennessee,  jBrownsville,  do. 
Munro  Co,,  Chip, 

This  Convention,  :among  other -measures,  petitioned 
^Congress  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  and  exhorted  the  friends  of  Abolition  to  use  their 
efforts  to  procure  "  the. removal  of  all  existing  legal  impe 
diments  in  the  way  of  educating  the  people  of  color/'  Such 
was  the  promising  state  of  public  feeling,  a.t  the  very  mo 
ment  when  the  Colonization  Society  announced  its  cru 
sade  against  Abolition.  The  vigor,  and  constancy  with 
which  it  has  been  carried  on  to  the  present  time,  are 
to  all  who  have  watched  its  progress. 


114  CHARGES  AGAINST  ABOLITIONISTS. 

Abolition  Societies,  and  their  conventions,  have  withered 
under  the  "  CENSURE"  of  their  powerful  enemy,  and 
have  shrunk  from  public  notice.  Within  the  last  two 
years,  they  have  been  partially  succeeded  by  more  sturdy 
associations,  named  Anti-slavery  Societies,,  which,  instead 
of  quailing  beneath  the  frowns  of  their  foe,  have  dared  to 
grapple  with  him  in  mortal  conflict,  nnd  to  stake  the  hopes 
of  freedom  on  the  issue.  If,  iu  this  struggle,  Abolitionists 
have  not  always  distinguished  themselves  by  their  courte 
ous  bearing,  let  it  be  recollected,  that  they  believe  the 
happiness  of  millions  depends  on  their  efforts  ;  and,  alsor 
that  by  their  haughty  adversary,  they  have  been  treated  as 
wretches  who  deserve  punishment ;  not  as  the  generous 
and  disinterested  champions  of  the  oppressed  and  friend 
less.  Let  us  observe  the  manner  in  which  they  are  assailed 
by  members  of  a  religious  society.. 

"  It  (the  society)  is  nowise  mingled  or  confounded  with 
the  broad  sweeping  views  of  a  few  fanatics  in  America, 
who  would  urge  ire  on  to  the  sudden  and  total  abolition  of 
slavery."  Af.  Rep.  III.  197. 

"  Come,  ye  Abolitionists,  away  with  your  wild  enthusi 
asm,  your  misguided  philanthropy."  Af.  Rep.  VII.  100. 

"Resolved,  that  we  view  all  attempts  to  prejudice  the 
public  mind,  or  excite  the  popular  feeling,  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  as  unwise  and  injurious,  and  adapted  to  perpetu 
ate  the  evil  which  it  is  proposed  to  eradicate."  Col.  Meet 
ing1  at  Northampton,  Mass.  Af.  Rep.  VIII.  283. 

After  a  public  discussion  of  the  Colonization  scheme  in 
Utica,  the  Common  Council  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  so 
ciety,  by  discharging  resolutions  against  the  Abolitionists., 
For  example  : 

"  Whereas,  certain  individuals  now  in,  our  city,  are  dis 
turbing-  the  peace  of  the  good  citizens  thereof,  by  incul 
cating  sentiments  which  we  deem  demoralizing  in  them 
selves,  and  little  short  of  TREASON  towards  the  govern 
ment  of  our  country,"  &c. 

"  Resolved,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  it  is 
the  solemn  duty  of  every  patriot  and  philanthropist,  to 
discountenance  and  OPPOSE  the  efforts  of  Anti-slavery  So 
cieties."  Col.  Soc.  of  Middletown,  Conn.  6th  March, 
1834. 


CHARGES  AGAINST  ABOLITIONISTb.  115 

It  would  have  been,  of  course,  unconstitutional  to  aid 
these  efforts  ;  but  it  seems  the  society  had  full  authority  to 
oppose  them.  In  short,  with  Colonization  Societiesl 
every  thing  is  constitutional  that  is  expedient,  and  nothing 
that  is  not. 

"  The  emancipation,  to  which  this  resolution  directs 
your  attention,  is  not  that  unconstitutional  and  dangerous 
emancipation,  contemplated  by  a  few  visionary  enthusiasts, 
and  a  still  fewer  number  of  reckless  incendiaries  among 
us."  Speech  of  Chancellor  Walworth,  at  Col.  Meeting1  in 
N.  York,  9th  Oct.  1833. 

"  I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity,  to  enter  my  solemn 
protest  against  the  attempts  which  are  making  by  a  few 
fanatics.  Let  us  talk  no  more  of  riulliiication  ;  the  doc 
trine  of  immediate  emancipation  is  a  direct  and  palpable 
nullification  of  that  Constitution  which  we  have  SWORN  to 
support."  Speech  of  D.  B.  Ogden  at  New-York  Col. 
Meeting. 

"  We  owe  it  to  ourselves  not  to  remain  silent  spectators 
while  this  WILD  FIRE  is  running  its  course.  We  owe  it  to 
those  misguided  men,  (the  abolitionists,)  to  interpose  and 
save  them  and  their  country  from  the  fatal  effects  of  their 
mad  speculations."  Speech  of  Hon.  T.  Frelinghuysen, 
V.  President,  before  Am.  Col.  Society,  21st  Jem.  1834. 

We  are  not  informed  which  article  of  the  constitution  of 
the  society,  imposes  on  its  members  the  onerous  duty  men 
tioned  by  the  Hon.  Gentleman. 

The  Abolitionists  in  New-York,  gave  notice  of  a  meet 
ing  for  forming  a  City  Anti-slavery  Society.  In  reference 
to  this  notice,  the  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  New-York  Colonization  Society,  Mr.  Stone,  published 
in  his  paper,  2d  Oct.  1833,  the  following  from  a  corres 
pondent. 

"  Is  it  possible,  that  our  citizens  can  look  quietly  on, 
while  the  flames  of  discord  are  rising  ?  while  even  our 
pulpits  are  sought  to  be  used  for  the  base  PURPOSE  of  en 
couraging  scenes  of  bloodshed  in  our  land.  If  we  do,  can 
we  look  our  Southern  brethren  in  the  face  and  say,  we  are 
opposed  to  interfering  with  their  rights?  No,  we  cannot."* 

*  This  communicntion  was  accompanied  by  an  editorial  admission  of 
the  civil  rights  of  Abolitionists.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  the  editor,  as 


1,16  RIGHTS  OF  ABOLITIONISTS  INVADED. 

The  hint  thus  kindly  given,  was  readily  taken,  and  a  mob 
>of  five  thousand  scattered  the  Abolitionists.  After  another 
.mob,  in  July,  had  assaulted  the  dwellings  and  temples  of 
Abolitionists,  this  officer  of  a  Christian  benevolent  society, 
thus  stated  the  CONDITION  on  which  Abolitionists  might  be 
permitted  to  enjoy  the  common  rights  of  American  citizens, 
security  of  person  and  freedom  of  speech,  the  press,  and 
religious  worship. 

"While  then  our  civil  authorities  should  receive  the  aid 
of  every  good  citizen,  in  their  efforts  to  put  down  the  mobs 
now  nightly  engaged  in  deeds  of  violence,  yet  there  should 
be  a  distinct  understanding,  that  the  protection  of  law, 
and  the  aid  of  the  military,  can  only  be  enjoyed  or  expected, 
ON  CONDITION,  that  the  causes  of  these  mischiefs  shall  be 
abate*.],  and  the  outrages  upon  public  feeling,  from  the  ro- 
T.UM,  the  PULPIT,  and  the  PRESS,  shall  no  more  be  repeated 
by  these  reckless  .incendiaries."  ..Commercial  Advertiser, 
ilth  July,  1834. 

Another  Colonization  Editor*  published  the  same  day, 
and  while  the.  mob  were  committing  their  grossest  outrages,, 
the  following  article : 

"  Now  we  tell  them,  (the  Abolitionists,)  that  when  they 
openly  and  publicly  promulgate  doctrines,  which  outrage 
public  feeling,  they  have  no  right  to  demand  protection  of 
•the  people  they  insult.  Ought  not,  we  ask,  our  city  authori 
ties  to  make  them  understand  this — to  tell  them,  that  they 
prosecute  their  TREASONABLE  and  BEASTLY  plans  at  their 
own  peril  ?"  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer,  llth  July,  1834. 

On  conditions  similar  to  those  proposed  by  these  gentle 
men,  the  Roman  emperors  were  ever  ready  to  afford  pro 
tection  to  the  Christian  martyrs  ;  nor  did  the  Spanish  Inqui 
sition  require  more,  than  that  none  should  "promulgate 
doctrines"  it  disapproved. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to;  insinuate,  that  the  conduct  of  these 
two  editors  was  in  conformity  with  the  advice  or  wishes  of 
any  respectable  Colonizationists;  and  candor  requires  the 
acknowledgment,  that  we  have  never  heard  it  justified  ;  but 

.will  be  seen  by  the  next  quotation,  afterwards  proposed  a  s&adition  on 
,  which  alone,  ia  his  opinion,  those  rights  should  be  protected. 
WttsonWebb. 


INTIMIDATION    INTENDED.  117 

it  Is  unfortunately  true,  that  the  insults  they  have  poured 
upon  Abolitionists,  have  been  countenanced  by  the  example 
of  gentlemen  from  whom  better  things  were  expected.  All 
this  violence  and  obloquy  are  not  without  an  object;  and 
that  object  is  INTIMIDATION.  Utterly  vain  is  the  hope  of 
maintaining  the  cause  of  Colonization,  or  of  suppressing 
that  of  Abolition,  by  discussion.  In  every  instance  in 
which  Colonizatioiists  have  ventured  to  meet  their  oppo 
nents  in  public  disputation,  they  have  invariably  retired  willi 
diminished  strength.  Hence  great  efforts  have  been  made 
by  Colonizationists,  and  by  the  advocates  of  slavery,  to 
prevent  the  public  from  ever  listening  to  the  facts  and  argu 
ments  adduced  by  the  Abolitionists.  After  a  mob  of  live 
thousand  had  assembled  to  prevent  the  formation  of  the 
New  York  Anti-slavery  Society — after  the  most  unfounded 
c  ilumnies  had  been  spread  through  the  community  against 
its  members,  the  society  published  an  address,  explaining 
their  real  sentiments  and  objects.  One  would  have  thought 
it  an  act  of  common  justice,  to  give  this  address  a  candid 
perusal ;  but  such  an  act  would  not  have  been  expedient, 
and  accordingly  the  zealous  editor  of  the  Commercial  Ad 
vertiser,  thus  endeavored  to  prevent  it. 

**  We  are  quite  sure,  that  a  discerning  public  will  consign 
it  to  oblivion,  by  abstaining  from  a  purchase  of  the  pestilent 
document.  Their  curiosity,  we  hope,  will  not  overstep 
their  discretion,  in  furthering  the  purposes  of  the  authors, 
by  its  dissemination.  Let  this  flagitious  address  descend 
to  the  tomb  of  the  Capulets.  The  address  in  extenso,  we 
have  not  read." 

The  Abolitionists,  on  the  contrary,  are  so  far  from/sa?*- 
ing  the  effects  of  discussion,  that  they  are  ever  anxious  to 
promote  it;  and  when  an  acrimonious  Colonization  pam 
phlet  *  appeared  against  them,  they  provokingly  advertised 
it  for  sale,  and  urged  the  public  to  read  it.f 

In  the  war  now  waging  between  the  Abolitionists  and 
Colonizationists,  a  third  party  has  come  to  the  aid  of  the 
latter.  Those  who  maintain  the  sinfulness  of  slavery,  and 
the  safety  and  duty  of  immediate  emancipation,  plant  them- 

*  Reese's  Review. 

t  See  the  New  York  Emancipator. 


118  INFIDEL  SUPPORT. 

selves  on  scriptural  ground,  and  urge  the  promises,  and 
threats,  and  commands  of  the  word  of  God.  They  pro 
fessedly  act  as  Christians,  and  only  as  Christians  ;  and  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  the  infidel  portion  of  the  commu 
nity  view  with  indifference  an  opportunity  of  wounding 
Christianity  through  its  zealous  disciples.  At  the  same 
time,  the  absence  of  Christian  motive  as  a  principle  of  the 
Colonization  scheme,  and  the  countenance  given  by  that 
scheme  to  most  unchristian  prejudices,  naturally  invite  an- 
tichristian  support.  Certain  it  is,  that  many  infidel  news~ 
papers  are  ,zealous  advocates  of  Colonization,  and  that  the 
mobs  of  our  cities  are  always  ready  to  espouse  its  cause. 

There  is  no  evidence,  that  with  the  exception  of  certain 
editors,  the  mobs  which  disgraced  the  city  of  New-York 
the  last  summer,  were  instigated  by  members  of  the  so 
ciety  ;  yet  these  mobs  were  its  avowed  champions.  The  first 
mob  assembled  on  the  9th  July,  at  the  Chatham-street 
Chapel,  the  place  in  which  some  anti-slavery  meetings  had 
recently  been  held  ;  and  breaking  open  the  doors,  took 
possession  of  the  building.  They  then  organized,  and  ap 
pointing  a  chairman,  passed  resolutions  approving-  of  the 
Colonization  Society  ;  and  by  a  formal  vote,  adjourned  till 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Anti-slavery  Society, — a  very  sig 
nificant  hint.  The  following  guarded  notice  of  this  trans 
action,  appeared  the  next  day  in  one  of  the  journals. 

"  From  the  non-assemblage  of  the  persons  who  had  de 
signed  to  occupy  the  Chapel,  it  was  evident  that  the  ob 
jects  of  the  meeting  had  been  abandoned,  and  the  friends 
of  Colonization  thereupon  entered,  organized  a  meeting, 
.passed  resolutions  in  favor  .of  their  own  opinions,  and 
peaceably  dispersed."  .  N.  Y.  Daily  Advertiser. 

The  mob  did  indeed  adjourn  as  a  Colonization  Meeting, 
but  they  had  too  much  business  on  their  hands  to  disperse. 
They  immediately  proceeded  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  the 
American  name,  by  mobbing  the  Bowery  Theatre,  in  re 
venge  for  some  insulting  expressions  said  to  have  been 
viised  by  an  English  actor. 

"  After  finishing  their  work  at  the  Bowery  Theatre,  the 
mob,  (says  the  New-York  Journal  of  Commerce,)  in  a  very 
,excited  state,  repaired  to  the  residence  of  Jkewis  Taj>pan, 


INFIDEL  SUPPORT.  110 

(a  prominent  Abolitionist,)  and  attacked  it  with  bricks  and! 
stones.  The  door,  window-blinds,  shutters,  <fec.,  were  soon 
demolished,  after  which,  the  mob  entered,  broke  up  the 
furniture,  and  made  a  bonfire  of  it  in  the  street."  Such 
was  the  commencement  of  four  days  of  riot  and  outrage, 
by  the  admirers  of  "the  benevolent  Colonization  system." 
The  managers  of  the  city  Colonization  Society,  mortified 
at  the  character  and  conduct  of  their  new  allies,  published 
a  card  declaring  that  the  "  tumultuous  meetings"  at  which 
certain  resolutions  had  been  passed  approving  the  objects 
of  the  New-York  Colonization  Society,  "  had  been  held 
without  any  previous  knowledge  of  the  Board."  and  re 
commending  to  every  friend  of  the  cause  of  Colonization 
to  abstain  "  from  all  participation  in  proceedings  subver 
sive  of  the  rights  of  individuals,  or  in  violation  of  tke 
public  peace."  When  before  have  the  friends  of  a  ^zti- 
gious  and  benevolent  cause  needed  such  a  recommenda 
tion? 

The  Journal  of  Commerce,  a  Colonization  paper,  as 
signs  infidelity  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  riots. 

"  It  was  noticed,  (it  observes,)  as  a  fact  full  of  instruc 
tion,  that  last  Sunday  night,  when  many  of  the  churches 
and  lecture  rooms  were  closed  for  fear  of  the  mob.  Tam 
many  Hall  was  brilliantly  lighted  up  for  the  meeting  of  in 
fidels,  who  carried  on  their  mummery  without  the  slightest 
apprehension  of  danger.  The  buildings  which  have  been 
attacked,  are  six  churches,  (belonging  to  four  different  de 
nominations,)  one  school-house,  occupied  as  a  church, 
three  houses  of  clergymen,  a  house  and  store,  occupied  by 
elders  of  churches,  and  a  number  of  houses  occupied  by 
colored  families.  Thus,  with  the  exception  of  some  colored 
persons,  the  vengeance  of  the  mob  has  been  exclusively 
directed  against  churches,  ministers  and  elders.  At  the 
sacking  of  Mr.  Tappan's  house,  a  fellow  was  heard  to  say, 
that  every  rascal  of  a  church  member  ought  to  be  thrown 
off  the  dock,  or  to  that  effect.  We  think,  therefore,  we 
see  inscribed  on  the  banner  of  this  guilty  throng,  ENMITY 

TO   THE   CROSS   OF  ClIRIST." 

Yet  this  guilty  throng  commenced  its  operations  with 
lauding  the  Colonization  Society. 

In  Utica,  after  a   public  discussion  on  Colonization,  a 


120  NOT  A  RELIGIOUS  SOCIETY. 

inob  assembled  and  burned  in  effigy  a  clergyman  who  had 
taken  part  against  the  Society ;  and  also  a  layman  who 
had  become  distinguished  for  his  zeal  in  the  temperance 
cause  ;  and  a  bundle  of  Temperance  Recorders  was  com 
mitted  to  the  flames. 

The  following  is  from  the  New  York  Courier  and  En 
quirer,  12th  May,  1S34,  and  is  part  of  an  article  in  defence 
of  the  Colonization  Society,  and  in  vituperation  of  the 
Abolitionists. 

"  Colleges  and  institutions  are  every  year  founded,  not 
for  the  purposes  of  general  education,  but  to  initiate  a  new 
race  of  monks  and  fanatics  in  the  arts  and  mysteries  of 
clerical  ambition,  to  teach  them  how  best  to  subjugate  the 
human  mind,  and  render  female  weakness  subservient  to 
well  disciplined  Jesuitism.  One  half  of  our  colleges  are 
nothing  more  than  seminailes  for  educating  uncompromi 
sing  bigots,"  &c.  &c.  In  this  very  same  article,  we  are 
assured  that  "the  Colonization  Society  holds  out  the  ONLY 
rational  and  practicable  mode  of  bringing  about  the  eman 
cipation  of  the  blacks  ;"  and  we  are  warned  against  the 
"  accursed,  and  disorganizing,  and  incendiary  devices,"  of 
the  Abolitionists. 

Soon  after  the  mobs,  a  poem  was  published,  entitled, 
"Fanaticism  unveiled."  The  author,  in  his  advertisement, 
declaims  against  the  "  crusade  which  is  now  waged  by  a 
f&w  wretched  fanatics  against  the  Colonization  Society." 
Of  the  religious  character  of  this  poetical  champion  of  tho 
Society,  some  estimate  may  be  made  from  the  following 
lines  : — 

"And  do  not  dunces  spend  their  cash  on 

Such  things  as  we  have  brought  in  fashion? 

Fictitious  tales  in  aid  of  piety, 

Invented  for  the  Tract  Society. 

Sectarian  Seminaries  made 

To  teach  the  true  fanatic  trade  ; 

And  schools  where  infancy  is  told, 

That  while  one  world  is  paved  with  gold, 

Another  lying  somewhat  lower, 

With  children's  skulls  is  sprinkled  o'er." 

The  Society  unquestionably  comprises  a  vast  number 
of  as  pure  and  devoted  Christians  as  can  be  found  in  this 
or  any  other  country  ;  and  wre  are  fully  persuaded,  they 
verily  believe,  that  in  supporting  Colonization,  they  are 
doing  God  service.  The  zealous  co-operation  they  are  new 


NOT  A  RELIGIOUS  SOCIETY.  121 

receiving  from  persons  of  very  opposite  character  from 
themselves,  should  lead  them  to  inquire  whether  they  may 
not  be  mistaken. 

It  certainly  does  not  follow,  that  a  system  must  be  bad, 
because  bad  men  support  it;  but  it  does  follow,  that  when 
mobs  and  infidels  espouse  a  particular  object,  it  is  because 
that  object  is  recommended  to  them  by  other  than  religious 
considerations.  Yet  Colonizationists  are  fond  of  represent 
ing  their  Society  as  a  religious  institution  ;  and  the  minis 
ters  of  the  Gospel  are  earnestly  urged  to  preach  annual 
sermons  in  its  behalf. 

That  multitudes  of  religious  men  belong  to  the  society, 
is  not  denied,  but  the  participation  of  such  men  in  an 
object,  does  not  necessarily  render  it  a  religious  object : 
otherwise  the  slave  trade  was  a  Christian  Commerce,  be 
cause  John  Newton  was  a  slave  trader  ;  and  Free  Masonry 
must  be  a  holy  fraternity,  since  it  can  boast  the  names  of 
more  good  men,  than  were  ever  enrolled  in  the  ranks  of 
Colonization.  But  in  what  sense  can  the  Society  be  term 
ed  a  religious  one  ?  It  is  not  professedly  founded  on  any 
one  principle  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  It  exercises  no  one 
act  of  benevolence  towards  the  free  blacks  in  this  country; 
and  in  transporting  them  to  Africa,  it  is  by  its  own  confes 
sion  removing  nuisances.  It  takes  no  measures  to  Christ 
ianize  Africa,  but  landing  on  its  shores  an  ignorant  and 
vicious  population.  It  employs  no  missionary,  it  sends  no 
Bible,  and  it  cannot  point  to  a  single  native,  converted  to 
the  faith  of  Jesus,  through  its  instrumentality.  On  the 
contrary,  may  we  not,  in  reference  to  the  facts  disclosed  in 
the  preceding  pages,  affirm,  without  the  imputation  of  bi 
gotry  or  prejudice,  that  the  general  influence  of  the  Society, 
is  decidedly  anti-christian.  We  have  seen  that  it  practically 
tends  to  the  debasement  and  persecution  of  the  free  blacks  ; 
to  the  hardening  of  the  consciences  of  the  slaveholders, 
and  to  the  indefinite  continuance  of  slavery. 

The  objects  of  the  society,  as  stated  in  the  declarations 
of  its  orators,  are  of  such  vast  importance,  and  such  godlike 
benevolence,  that  it  is  no  wonder  good  men  have  been  so 
dazzled  by  the  gorgeous  visions  presented  to  their  imagina 
tions,  as  to  have  omitted  to  scrutinize  the  machinery  by 
which  these  visions  are  to  be  realized, 
11 


122  REPUTATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY  ABROAD. 

No  one  surely  needs  an  apology  for  having  believed  in 
Colonization,  when  WILBERFORCE  could  thus  express 
himself: 

'*  You  have  gladdened  my  heart  by  convincing  me,  that 
sanguine  as  had  been  my  hopes  of  the  happy  effects  to  be 
produced  by  your  institution,  all  my  anticipations  are  scan 
ty  and  cold  compared  with  the  reality."  Letter  to  Mr. 
Cresson.  15th  Rep.  p.  15. 

No  one  surely  needs  to  blush  at  acknowledging  that  he 
has  been  deceived  in  the  society,  since  WILBERFORCE 
placed  his  name  at  the  head  of  a  protest  against  it.  The 
following  extract  from  this  protest  will  show  how  truly  the 
Society  is  now  estimated  by  British  philanthropists. 

"  Our  objections  to  it,  are  briefly  these :  while  we  be 
lieve  its  pretexts  to  be  delusive,  we  are  convinced  that  its 
real  effects  are  of  the  most  dangerous  nature.  It  takes  its 
root  from  a  cruel  prejudice  and  alienation  in  the  whites  of 
America,  against  the  colored  people,  slave  or  free.  This 
being  its  source,  the  effects  are  what  might  be  expected — 
that  it  fosters  and  increases  the  spirit  of  caste,  already  so 
unhappily  predominant — that  it  widens  the  breach  between 
the  two  races — exposes  the  colored  people  to  great  practical 
persecution,  in  order  to  force  them  to  emigrate;  and  final 
ly  is  calculated  to  swallow  up  and  divert  that  feeling  which 
America,  as  a  Christian  and  a  free  country,  cannot  but  en 
tertain,  that  slavery  is  alike  incompatible  with  the  law  of 
God,  and  the  well  being  of  man,  whether  of  the  enslaver, 
or  the  enslaved.  We  must  be  understood  utterly  to  repvj- 
diate  the  principles  of  the  American  Colonization  So 
ciety.11 

The  opponents  of  slavery  in  England,  as  well  as  here, 
at  first  hailed  the  society  as  an  auxiliary,  and  the  anti- 
slavery  societies  there,  in  the  warmth  of  their  zeal,  began 
to  remit  contributions  to  its  funds :  by  these  same  people, 
the  society  is  now  regarded  with  detestation.  Probably  no 
religious  periodical,  possesses  in  an  equal  degree,  the  con 
fidence  of  the  religious  community  here,  as  the  London 
Christian  Observer.  The  Observer  formerly  commended 
the  society.  Hear  the  present  sentiments  of  its  late  Edi 
tor,  the  distinguished  Z.  Macauley,  Esq.,  M.  P. 

"The  unchristian  prejudice  of  color,  which  alone  has 


REPUTATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY  ABROAD.  123 

given  birth  to  the  Colonization  Society,  though  varnished 
over  with  other  more  plausible  pretences,  and  veiled  under 
a  profession  of  Christian  regard,  for  the  temporal  and  spi 
ritual  interests  of  the  negro,  which  is  belied  by  the  whole 
course  of  its  reasonings,  and  the  spirit  of  its  measures,  is 
so  detestable  in  itself,  that  I  think  it  ought  not  to  be  tole 
rated  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  ought  to  be  denounced  and  op 
posed  by  all  humane,  and  especially  all  pious  persons  in 
this  country."  Letter  14th  July,  1833,  to  Mr.  Garrison. 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century,  William  Allen,  a  London 
quaker,  has  been  prominent  in  every  good  work,  and  his 
name  is  familiar  to  all  acquainted  with  the  great  Catholic 
institutions  of  England.  This  eminent  and  zealous  philan 
thropist  thus  writes : 

"  Having  heard  thy  exposition  of  the  origin  and  main 
object  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  at  the  meet 
ing  on  the  13th  instant,  at  Exeter  Hall,  and  having-  read 
their  own  printed  documents,  I  scarcely  know  how  ade 
quately  to  express  my  surprise  arid  indignation,  that  mv 
correspondents  in  North  America  should  not  have  informed 
me  of  the  real  principles  of  the  said  Society  ;  and  also, 
that  Elliott  Cresson,  knowing  as  he  must  have  known  the 
abominable  sentiments  it  has  printed  and  published,  should 
have  condescended  to  become  its  agent."  Letter  15*A  of 
Hth  Month,  1833. 

Mr.  Buxton,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Wilberforce  as  the 
parliamentary  leader  in  the  cause  of  Abolition,  thus  expres 
ses  himself: 

"My  views  of  the  Colonization  Society  you  are  aware 
of.  They  do  not  fall  far  short  of  those  expressed  by  my 
friend  Mr.  Cropper,  when  he  termed  its  objects  diabolical" 
Letter  of  July  12th,  1833. 

But  is  it  only  in  Britain,  that  good  men  have  found  them 
selves  disappointed  in  the  society  ?  Who  compose  our  pre 
sent  Anti-slavery  Societies  ?  Pious  conscientious  men, 
who,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  were  formerly  advocates 
of  Colonization.  A  Clergyman  of  Massachusetts,  in  the 
following  passage,  expresses  the  sentiments  of  a  numerous 
and  increasing  body. 

"  I  have  been  constrained  to  withdraw  my  confidence 
and  co-operation  from  this  scheme.  It  is  a  scheme  in 


124  CONCLUDING  ADDRESS. 

which  I  was  once  deeply  interested.  I  have  spoken  and 
preached,  and  written  and  taken  contributions  in  its  behalf. 
I  did  not  then  understand  the  real  nature  and  tendency  of 
the  scheme.  I  meant  well  in  espousing  it,  but  I  now  see 
my  error  and  my  sin ;  and  though  it  was  a  sin  of  igno 
rance,  I  desire  to  repent  of  it." 

Almost  daily  do  we  hear  of  Colonizationists  awaking  as 
from  a  dream,  and  expressing  their  astonishment  and  re 
gret  at  the  delusion  into  which  they  had  fallen. 

To  the  Christian  members  of  the  society,  we  would  now 
address  ourselves,  and  ask,  have  we  not  proved  enough  to 
induce  you  to  pause,  to  examine,  and  to  pray,  before  you 
longer  lend  your  names,  and  contribute  your  funds  to  the 
purposes  of  Colonization  ?  Do  no  secret  misgivings  of  con 
science  now  trouble  you;  and  are  you  perfectly  sure  that 
in  supporting  the  society,  you  are  influenced  by  the  precepts 
of  the  Gospel,  and  not  by  prejudice  against  an  unhappy 
portion  of  the  human  family  ?  If  on  a  full  investigation 
of  the  subject,  you  discover  that  Colonization  is  not  what 
you  believed  and  hoped  it  was,  remember  that  it  is  your 
duty  to  obviate,  as  far  as  possible,  by  a  frank  and  open  de 
claration  of  your  opinion,  the  evil  your  example  has  done. 
Be  not  ashamed,  be  not  slow  to  follow  Wilberforce  in  en 
tering  your  protest  against  the  society.  If  that  society 
leads  to  the  degradation  and  oppression  of  the  poor  color 
ed  man — if  it  resists  every  effort  to  free  the  slave — if  it 
misleads  the  conscience  of  the  slaveholder,  you  are  bound, 
your  God  requires  you  to  oppose  it,  not  in  secret,  but  be 
fore  the  world.  Soon  will  you  stand  at  the  judgment  seat 
of  Christ ;  there  will  you  meet  the  free  negro,  the  slave, 
and  the  master — take  care  lest  they  all  appear  as  witnesses 
against  you. 


PART    II. 

AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY. 


PART    II. 

AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY. 

CHAPTER    I. 


Principles  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society.    Character  of  American 
Slavery. 

THE  principles  professed  by  the  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society,  are  set  forth  in  the  following  articles  of  its  Consti 
tution,  viz : — 

ARTICLE  2.  The  objects  of  this  Society  are  the  entire 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  United  States.  While  it  admits 
that  each  State,  in  which  slavery  exists,  has,  by  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  the  exclusive  right  to  legislate  in 
regard  to  its  abolition  in  that  State,  it  shall  aim  to  convince 
all  our  fellow  citizens  by  arguments  addressed  to  their  under- 
standings  and  consciences,  that  slave-holding  is  a  heinous 
crime  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  and  that  the  duty,  safety,  and  best 
interests  of  all  concerned,  require  its  immediate  abandon 
ment,  without  expatriation.  The  Society  will  also  endeavor 
in  a  Constitutional  way  to  influence  Congress  to  put  an  end 
to  the  domestic  slave  trade  ;  and  to  abolish  slavery  in  all  those 
portions  of  our  common  country,  which  come  under  its  con 
trol,  especially  in  the  District  ot  Columbia,  and  likewise  to 
prevent  the  extension  of  it  to  any  State  that  may  hereafter  be 
admitted  to  the  Union. 

ART.  3.  This  Society  shall  aim  to  elevate  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  people  of  color,  by  encouraging  their 
intellectual,  moral  and  religious  improvement,  and  by  re 
moving  public  prejudice ;  that  thus  they  may  according  to 
their  intellectual  and  moral  worth,  share  an  equality  with 
the  whites,  of  civil  and  religious  privileges  ;  but  the  Society 
will  never  in  any  way,  countenance  the  oppressed  in  vindi 
cating  their  rights,  by  resorting  to  physical  force. 

ART.  4.  Any  person  who  consents  to  the  principles  of  this 


128  AMERICAN    SLAVERY. 

Constitution,  who  contributes  to  the  funds  of  this  Society,  and 
is  not  a  slave-holder,  may  be  a  member  of  this  Society,  and 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  its  meetings. 

Here  we  have  great  moral  principles  frankly  and  unequi 
vocally  avowed ;  the  objects  to  be  pursued  are  distinctly 
stated ;  and  none  are  permitted  to  join  in  the  pursuit  of  these 
objects  without  assenting  to  the  principles  which  avowedly 
render  their  attainment  desirable.  The  whole  structure  of 
the  Society,  therefore,  is  totally  different  from  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society.  This  being  founded  on  principle,  that  on 
expediency.  This  availing  itself,  only  of  certain  professed 
motives,  that  inviting  the  co-operation  of  motives  of  all  sorts, 
however  contradictory. 

In  order  to  judge  of  the  fitness  of  the  objects  contemplated 
by  the  Society,  we  must  first  inquire  into  the  soundness  of  the 
principles  by  which  they  are  recommended. 

The  first  great  principle  of  the  Society,  and  indeed  the  one 
from  which  all  the  others  are  deduced,  is  the  sinfulness  of 
slavery.  To  determine  whether  slavery  as  it  exists  in  the 
United  States  is  sinful,  we  must  know  what  it  is.  Where 
an  institution  is  unavoidably  liable  to  great  abuses,  those 
abuses  may  fairly  be  taken  in  account,  in  estimating  its  true 
character  ;  but  in  order  to  avoid  all  captious  objections,  we 
will  now  inquire,  what  are  the  lawful,  or  rather  legal  features 
of  American  slavery,  and  we  will  leave  wholly  out  of  view, 
all  acts  of  oppression  and  cruelty  not  expressly  sanctioned  by 
law.  The  following  definitions  of  American  slavery,  are,  it 
will  be  perceived,  from  high  authority  : 

"  A  slave  is  one  who  is  in  the  power  of  a  master  to  whom 
he  belongs.  The  master  may  sell  him,  dispose  of  his  person, 
his  industry,  his  labor ;  he  can  do  nothing,  possess  nothing, 
nor  acquire  any  thing  but  which  must  belong  to  his  master." 
Louisiana  Code,  Art.  3. 

"  Slaves  shall  be  deemed,  taken,  reputed  and  adjudged  to  be 
chattels  personal  in  the  hands  of  their  masters  and  possessors, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  whatsoever."  Laws  of  South, 
Carolina — Brevard's  Digest,  229. 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  definitions  apply  to  slaves 
without  distinction  of  sex  or  age. 

But  not  only  are  those  now  in  servitude,  bu  neir  children 
after  them,  the  subjects  of  these  definitions. 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY.  129 

The  law  of  South  Carolina  says  of  slaves,  "  all  their  issue 
and  offspring  born  or  to  be  born,  shall  be,  and  they  are  here 
by  declared  to  be  and  remain  FOREVER  HEREAFTER  ab 
solute  slaves,  and.  shall  follow  the  condition  of  the  mother." 

Slavery  is  not  confined  to  color.  Mr.  Paxton,  a  Virginia 
writer,  declares  that,  "  the  best  blood  in  Virginia,  flows  in 
the  veins  of  the  slaves."  In  the  description  lately  given  of  a 
fugitive  slave,  in  the  public  papers,  it  was  stated,  "  He  has 
sometimes  been  mistaken  for  a  white  man."  The  following 
from  a  Missouri  paper,  proves  that  a  white  man,  may,  without 
a  mistake  be  adjudged  a  slave. 

"  A  case  of  a  slave  suing  for  his  freedom,  was  tried  a  few 
days  since  in  Lincoln  county,  of  which  the  following  is  a  brief 
statement  of  the  particulars.  A  youth  of  about  ten  years  of 
age  sued  for  his  freedom  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  free 
white  person.  The  court  granted  his  petition  to  sue  as  a 
pauper  upon  inspection  of  his  person.  Upon  his  trial  before 
the  jury  he  was  examined  by  the  jury  and  by  two  learned 
physicians,  all  of  whom  concurred  in  the  opinion  that  very 
little  if  any  trace  of  negro  blood  could  be  discovered  by  any 
of  the  external  appearances.  All  the  physiological  marks  of 
distinctions  which  characterize  the  African  descent  had  disap 
peared. 

"  His  skin  was  fair,  his  hair  soft,  straight,  fine  and  white, 
his  eyes  blue,  but  rather  disposed  to  the  hazle-nut  color  ;  nose 
prominent,  the  lips  small  and  completely  covering  the  teeth, 
his  head  round  and  well  formed,  forehead  high  and  prominent, 
the  ears  large,  the  tibia  of  the  leg  straight,  the  feet  hollow. 
Notwithstanding  these  evidences  of  his  claims,  he  was  proven 
to  be  a  descendant  of  a  mulatto  woman,  and  that  his  progeni 
tors  on  his  mother's  side  had  been  and  still  were  slaves  ;  con 
sequently  he  was  found  to  be  a  SLAVE." 

The  laws  of  South  Carolina  and  Virginia  expressly  recog 
nize  Indian  slaves. 

Not  only  do  the  laws  acknowledge  and  protect  existing 
slavery,  but  they  provide  for  reducing  free  persons  to  here 
ditary  bondage.  In  South  Carolina,  fines  are  imposed  on  free 
negroes  for  certain  offences,  and  in  default  of  payment,  they  are 
made  slaves.  If  a  colored  citizen  of  any  other  state  enters  Geor 
gia,  he  is  fined,  and  if  he  cannot  raise  the  money,  he  is  sen 
tenced  to  perpetual  slavery,  and  his  children  after  him.  In 


130  AMERICAN    SLAVERY. 

Maryland,  if  a  free  negro  marries  a  white,  the  negro  becomes  a 
slave.  In  almost  every  slave  state,  if  a  free  negro  cannot 
prove  that  he  is  free,  he  is  by  law  sold  at  public  auction  as  a 
slave  for  life.  This  is  both  law  and  practice  in  the  district  of 
Columbia,  and  with  the  sanction  of  the  Congress  of  the  Uni 
ted  States.  In  no  civilized  country  but  the  slave  states,  are 
children  punished  for  the  crimes  of  their  parents;  but  in  these, 
the  children  of  free  blacks,  to  the  latest  posterity  are  condem 
ned  to  servitude  for  the  trivial  offences,  and  often  for  the  most 
innocent  acts  of  their  ancestors. 

It  necessarily  follows  from  the  legal  definitions  we  have 
given  of  a  slave,  that  he  is  subjected  to  an  absolute  and  irre 
sponsible  despotism. 

The  master  has  in  point  of  fact  the  same  power  over  his 
slave  that  he  has  over  his  horse.  Some  few  laws  there  may 
be,  forbidding  the  master  to  treat  his  slave  with- cruelty,  and 
so  the  common  law  every  where  forbids  cruelty  to  beasts  ;  but 
it  is  far  easier  to  enforce  the  latter  than  the  former.  Any 
spectator  of  cruelty  to  a  beast,  may  ordinarily  be  a  witness 
against  the  offender ;  but  a  slave  may  be  mutilated  or  mur 
dered  with  impunity  in  the  presence  of  hundreds,  provided 
their  complexions  are  colored;  and  even  should  the  crime  be 
proved  by  competent  testimony,  the  master  i's  to  be  tried  by  a 
court  and  jury  who  are  all  interested  in  maintaining  the  su 
preme  authority  of  slave-holders.  But  although  no  laws  can 
in  fact  restrain  the  power  of  the  master,  yet  laws  to  a  certain 
degree,  indicate  what  kind  of  treatment  is  tolerated  by  public 
opinion.  Thus  when  we  find  the  laws  of  South  Carolina  //- 
miting  the  time  which  slaves  may  be  compelled  to  labor,  to  fif 
teen  hours  a  day,  we  may  form  some  opinion  of  the  amount  of 
toil  which  southern  masters  think  it  right  to  inflict  upon  the 
slaves  ;  and  when  we  recollect,  that  the  laws  of  Maryland, 
Virginia  and  Georgia,  forbid  that  the  criminals  in  their  peni 
tentiaries  shall  be  made  to  labor  more  than  ten  hours  a 
day ;  we  discover  the  relative  place  which  white  felons, 
and  unoffending  slaves,  occupy  in  the  sympathies  of  slave 
holders. 

The  slave  is,  at  all  times,  liable  to  be  punished  at  the  plea 
sure  of  his  master  ;  and  although  the  law  does  not  warrant 
him  in  murdering  the  slave,  it  expressly  justifies  him  in  kill 
ing  him,  if  he  dares  to  resist.  That  is,  if  the  slave  does  not 


AFRICAN    SLAVER*.  131 

submit  to  any  chastisement,  which  a  brutal  master  may  of  his 
sovereign  pleasure  choose  to  inflict,  he  may  legally  be  shot 
through  the  head. 

In  South  Carolina,  if  a  slave  be  killed  "  on  a  sudden  heat 
or  passion,  or  by  undue,  correction"  the  murderer  is  to 
pay  a  fine  and  be  imprisoned  six  months.  What  would  be 
thought  of  such  a  punishment  for  the  murder  of  a  white  ap 
prentice  ? 

In  Missouri,  a  master  is  by  law  expressly  authorized  to  im 
prison  his  slave  during  pleasure,  and  thus  may  a  human  being 
be  legally  incarcerated  lor  life  without  trial,  or  even  the  allega 
tion  of  a  crime. 

The  despotism  of  the  slave-holder,  be  it  remembered,  is  a 
negotiable  despotism ;  it  is  daily  and  hourly  bought  and 
sold,  and  may  at  any  moment  be  delegated  to  the  most  brutal  of 
the  species. 

The  slave,  being  himself  property,  can  own  no  proper^. 
He  may  labor  fifteen  hours  a  day,  but  he  acquires  nothing  by 
his  labor.  In  South  Carolina,  a  slave  is  not  permitted  to  keep 
a  boat,  or  to  raise  and  breed  for  his  own  benefit,  any  horses, 
cattle,  sheep,  or  hogs,  under  pain  of  forfeiture,  and  any  person 
may  take  such  articles  from  him. 

In  Georgia,  the  master  is  fined  thirty  dollars  for  suffermg 
his  slave  to  hire  himself  to  another  for  his  own  benefit.  In 
Maryland  the  master  forfeits  thirteen  dollars  for  each  month 
that  his  slave  is  permitted  to  receive  wages  on  his  own 
account. 

In  Virginia,  every  master  is  finable  who  permits  a  slave  to 
work  for  himself  at  wages.  In  North  Carolina,  "all  horses, 
cattle,  hogs,  or  sheep,  that  shall  belong  to  any  slave,  or  be  of 
any  slave's  mark  in  this  state,  shall  be  seized  and  sold  by  the 
County  Wardens." 

In  Mississippi,  the  master  is  forbidden,  under  the  penalty  of 
fifty  dollars,  to  let  a  slave  raise  cotton  for  himself,  "  or  to  keep 
stock  of  any  description." 

Such  is  the  anxiety  of  the  slave  laws  to  repress  every  bene 
volent  desire  of  the  master  to  promote  in  the  slightest  degree 
the  independence  of  the  slave. 

Slaves,  being  property,  are  like  cattle  liable  to  be  leased 
and  mortgaged  by  their  owners,  or  sold  on  execution  for 
debt. 


132  AMERICAN    SLAVER  V. 

A  slave  having  no  rights,  cannot  appear  in  a  court  of  justice 
to  ask  for  redress  of  injuries.  So  far  as  he  is  the  subject  of 
injury,  the  law  regards  him  only  as  a  brute,  and  redress  can 
only  be  demanded  and  received  by  the  owner.  The  slave  may 
be  beaten,  (robbed  he  cannot  be,)  his  wife  and  children  may  be 
insulted  and  abused  in  his  presence,  and  he  can  ho  more  insti 
tute  an  action  for  damages,  than  his  master's  horse.  But 
cannot  he  be  protected  by  his  master's  right  of  action  ?  No  : 
The  master  must  prove  special  injury  to  his  property,  to  reco 
ver  damages.  Any  man  may  with  perfect  impunity,  whip 
another's  slave,  unless  he  so  injure  him  as  to  occasion  "  a  loss 
of  service,  or  at  least  a  diminution  of  the  faculty  of  the  slave 
for  bodily  labor."  Such  is  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Maryland.  In  Louisiana,  if  a  third  person  maim  a  slave, 
so  that  he  is  "  forever  rendered  unable  to  work,"  the  offender 
pays  to  the  owner  the  value  of  the  slave,  and  is  also  to  be  at 
the  expense  of  his  maintenance ;  but  the  unfortunate  slave 
mutilated  or  crippled  for  life,  receives  not  the  slightest  com 
pensation.  The  master's  right  of  action  is  a  protection  to  his 
property,  not  to  the  comfort  or  security  of  the  slave  ;  indeed 
it  tends  to  degrade  the  latter  to  the  level  of  the  other  live  stock 
on  his  master's  farm. 

A  necessary  consequence  of  slavery,  is  the  absence  of  the 
marriage  relation.  No  slave  can  commit  bigamy,  because  the 
law  knows  no  more  of  the  marriage  of  slaves,  than  it  does  of 
the  marriage  of  brutes.  A  slave  may,  indeed,  be  formally 
married,  but  so  far  as  legal  rights  and  obligations  are  concern 
ed,  it  is  an  idle  ceremony.  His  wife  may,  at  any  moment,  be 
legally  taken  from  him,  and  sold  in  the  market.  The 
slave  laws  utterly  nullify  the  injunction  of  the  Supreme 
Lawgiver — "What  God  hath  joined,  let  not  man  put  asun 
der." 

Of  course,  these  laws  do  not  recognize  the  parental  relation 
as  belonging  to  slaves.  A  slave  has  no  more  legal  authority 
over  his  child,  than  a  cow  over  her  calf. 

The  Legislatures  of  the  slave  States,  when  legislating 
respecting  slaves,  seem  regardless  alike  of  the  claims  and  the 
affections  of  our  common  nature.  No  right  is  more  sacred, 
or  more  universally  admitted,  than  that  of  self-preservation  ; 
but  the  wretched  slave,  whether  male  or  female,  is  denied  the 
right  of  self-defence  against  the  brutality  of  any  person, 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY.  133 

whomsoever  having  a  white  skin.  Thus  the  law  of  Georgia 
declares,  "  if  any  slave  shall  presume  to  strike  any  white  per 
son,  upon  trial  or  conviction  before  the  Justice  or  Justices, 
according  to  the  directions  of  this  act,  shall,  for  the  first  offence, 
suffer  such  punishment  as  the  said  Justice  or  Justices  shall  in 
their  discretion  think  fit,  not  extending  to  life  or  limb;  and 
Tor  the  second  offence,  suffer  DEATH." 

The  same  law  prevails  in  South  Carolina,  except  that  death 
is  the  penalty  for  the  third  offence. 

In  Maryland,  the  Justice  may  order  the  offender's  ears  to 
be  cropped.  In  Kentucky,  "  any  negro,  mulatto,  or  Indian, 
bond  or  free"  who  "shall  at  any  time  lift  his  hand  in  oppo 
sition  to  any  white  person,  shall  receive  thirty  lashes  on  his 
or  her  bare  back,  well  laid  on,  by  order  of  the  Justice." 

In  South  Carolina,  "  if  any  slave,  who  shall  be  out  of  the 
house  or  plantation  where  such  slaves  shall  live,  or  shall  be 
usually  employed,  or  without  some  white  person  in  company 
with  such  slaves,  shall  refuse  to  submit  to  undergo  the 
examination  oiany  white  person,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  white 
person  to  pursue,  apprehend,  and  moderately  correct  such  slave ; 
and  if  such  slave  shall  assault  and  strike  such  white  person, 
such  slave  may  be  LAWFULLY  KILLED." 

We  have  seen  that  the  slave  laws  regard  the  slave,  so  far  as 
human  rights  and  enjoyments,  and  social  relations  are  con 
cerned,  as  a  mere  brute  ;  we  are  now  to  see,  that  so  far  as  he 
can  be  made  to  suffer  for  his  acts,  he  is  regarded  as  an  intel 
ligent  and  responsible  being. 

Divine  equity  has  established  the  rule,  that  the  servant  which 
knew  not  his  master's  will,  and  did  commit  things  worthy 
of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes.  If  there  was 
ever  a  case  to  which  this  rule  was  applicable,  it  is  to  the 
unlettered,  ignorant,  brutalized  slave,  intentionally  deprived 
of  the  ability  to  read  the  laws  of  God  or  man.  A  code  of 
laws  prepared  for  the  government  of  such  beings,  one  would 
suppose  would  be  distinguished  for  its  lenity ;  and  in  the 
mildness  of  its  penalties,  would  form  a  striking  contrast  to 
a  code  for  the  government  of  the  enlightened  and  instructed 
part  of  the  community,  whose  offences  would,  of  course,  be 
aggravated  by  the  opportunities  they  had  enjoyed  of  learning 
their  duty.  Alas,  the  slave  code  punishes  acts  not  mala  in 
se  with  a  rigor  which  public  opinion  would  no*  tolerate  fa* 
12 


134  AMERICAN    SLAVERY. 

a  moment,  if  exercised  towards  white  felons,  snd  it  visits 
crimes  with  penalties  far  heavier,  when  committed  by  the 
poor  ignorant  slave,  than  it  does  when  they  are  perpetrated  by 
the  enlightened  citizen. 

Thus  in  Georgia,  any  person  may  inflict  twenty  lashes  on  the 
bare  back  of  a  slave  found  without  license  off  the  plantation,  or 
without  the  limits  of  the  town  to  which  he  belongs.  So  also 
in  Mississippi,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky,  at  the  discretion  of  a 
Justice. 

In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  any  person  finding  more 
than  seven  slaves  together  in  the  highway  without  a  white 
person,  may  give  each  one  twenty  lashes. 

In  Kentucky,  Virginia  and  Missouri,  a  slave  for  keeping  a 
gun,  powder,  shot,  a  club,  or  other  weapon  whatsoever,  offen 
sive  or  defensive,  may  be  whipped  thirty-nine  lashes  by  order 
of  a  Justice. 

In  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  a  slave  travelling 
without  a  pass,  or  being  found  in  another  person's  negro 
quarters,  or  kitchen,  may  be  whipped  forty  lashes,  and 
every  slave,  in  whose  company  the  visitor  is  found,  twenty 
lashes. 

In  Louisiana,  a  slave  for  being  on  horseback,  without  the 
written  permission  of  his  master,  incurs  twenty-five  lashes ; 
for  keeping  a  dog,  the  like  punishment. 

By  the  law  of  Maryland,  for  "  rambling,  riding,  or  going 
abroad  in  the  night,  or  riding  horses  in  the  daytime,  without 
leave,"  a  slave  may  be  whipt,  cropt,  or  branded  on  the  cheek 
with  the  letter  R,  or  otherwise  punished,  not  extending  to  life, 
or  "  so  as  to  render  him  unfit  for  labor." 

Such  are  a.  few  specimens  only  of  the  punishments  inflicted 
on  slaves,  for  acts  not  criminal,  and  which  it  is  utterly  im 
possible  they  should  generally  know,  are  forbidden  by  law. 

Let  us  now  view  the  laws  of  the  slave  states  in  relation  to 
crimes,  and  we  shall  find  that  their  severity  towards  blacks 
and  whites,  is  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  moral  guilt  of  the  offend 
ers. 

In  Virginia,  the  laws  have  recently  been  revised,  and  by  the 
revised  code,  there  are  seventy-one  offences  for  which  the  pe 
nalty  is  DEATH,  when  committed  by  slaves,  and  imprisonment 
when  by  whites.* 

•  An  enumeration  of  these  offences,  together  with  references  to  the  sto 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY.  135 

In  Mississippi,  the  number  of  these  offences  are  thirty- 
eight,  or  rather  many  of  them  are  not  punishable  at  all, 
when  committed  by  whites  :  as,  for  instance,  attempting  to 
burn  out-buildings,  to  commk  forgery,  to  steal  a  horse,  &c., 
&c. 

Imprisonment  of  a  slave  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  except 
in  Louisiana,  is  utterly  unknown  in  the  slave  states.  To 
shut  him  up  in  prison,  would  be  depriving  his  master  of  his 
labor,  and  burthening  the  public  with  his  maintenance  ;  it  is, 
therefore,  more  economical  to  flog  him  for  trifles,  and  to  hang 
him  for  serious  offences. 

Where  human  life  is  held  so  cheap,  and  human  suffering 
so  little  regarded  ;  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  dispensers 
of  slave  justice  will  submit  to  be  troubled  with  all  those  forms 
and  ceremonies  which  the  common  law  has  devised  for  the  pro 
tection  of  innocence.  We  have  seen  that,  in  many  instances, 
any  white  person  may  instanter  discharge  the  functions  of 
judge,  jury,  and  executioner.  In  innumerable  instances,  all 
these  functions  are  united  in  a  single  justice  of  the  peace  ;  and 
in  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  Louisiana,  LIFE  may  be 
taken,  according  to  law,  without  intervention  of  grand  or  pe 
tit  jurors.  In  other  states,  a  trial  by  jury  is  granted  in  capital 
cases  ;  but  in  no  one  state,  it  is  believed,  is  it  thought  worth 
while  to  trouble  a  grand  jury  with  presenting  a  slave.  In 
most  of  the  slave  states,  the  ordinary  tribunal  for  the  trial  of 
slaves  charged  with  offences  not  capital,  is  composed  of  justices 
and  freeholders,  or  of  justices  only.  A  white  man  cannot  be 
convicted  of  misdemeanor,  except  by  the  unanimous  verdict  of 
twelve  of  his  peers.  In  Louisiana,  if  the  court  is  equally  divided 
as  to  the  guilt  of  a  slave,  judgment  is  rendered  against  him. 

In  1832,  thirty -five  slaves  were  executed  at  Charleston,  in 
pursuance  of  the  sentence  of  a  court,  consisting  of  two  justices 
and  five  freeholders,  on  a  charge  of  intended  insurrection.  No 
indictments,  no  summoning  of  jurors,  no  challenges  for  cause  or 
favor,  no  seclusion  of  the  triers  from  intercourse  with  those  who 
might  bias  their  judgment,  preceded  this  unparalleled  legal  de 
struction  of  human  life. 

However  much  we  may  pride  ourselves,  as  a  nation  on 
the  general  diffusion  of  the  blessings  of  education,  it  ought  to 

tutes  alluded  to  in  this  work,  may  be  found  in  "  Stroud's  sketch  of  the  elav« 
law"" 


136  AMERICAN   SLAVERY. 

'be  recollected,  that  these  blessings  are  forcibly  withheld 
from  two  millions  of  our  inhabitants ;  or  that  one-sixth  of 
our  whole  population  is  doomed  by  law  to  the  grossest  igno 
rance. 

A  law  of  South  Carolina  passed  in  1800,  authorizes  the  in 
fliction  of  twenty  lashes  on  every  slave  found  in  an  assembly 
convened  for  the  purpose  of  "mental  instruction,"  held  in  a 
confined  or  secret  place,  although  in  the  presence  of  a  white. 
Another  law  imposes  a  fine  of  £100  on  any  person  who  may 
teach  a  slave  to  write.  An  act  of  Virginia,  of  1829,  declares 
every  meeting  of  slaves  at  any  school  by  day  or  night,  for 
instruction  in  reading  or  writing,  an  unlawful  assembly,  and  any 
justice  may  inflict  twenty  lashes  on  each  slave  found  in  such 
school. 

In  North  Carolina,  to  teach  a  slave  to  read  or  write ;  or  to 
sell  or  give  him  any  book  (Bible  not  excepted)  or  pamphlet,  is 
punished  with  thirty-nine  lashes,  or  imprisonment,  if  the  of 
fender  be  a  free  negro,  but  if  a  white,  then  with  a  fine  of 
$200.  The  reason  for  this  law,  assigned  in  its  preamble  is, 
that  "  teaching  slaves  to  read  and  write,  tends  to  excite  dissa 
tisfaction  in  their  minds,  and  to  produce  insurrection  and  re 
bellion." 

In  Georgia,  if  a  white  teach  a  free  negro  or  slave  to  read 
or  write,  he  is  fined  $500,  and  imprisoned  at  the  discretion  of 
the  court ;  if  the  offender  be  a  colored  man,  bond  or  free, 
he  is  to  be  fined  or  whipped  at  the  discretion  of  the  court.  Of 
course  a  father  may  be  flogged  for  teaching  his  own  child. 
This  barbarous  law  was  enacted  in  1829. 

In  Louisiana,  the  penalty  for  teaching  slaves  to  read  or  write, 
is  one  year's  imprisonment. 

These  are  specimens  of  the  efforts  made  by  slave  legis 
latures,  to  enslave  the  minds  of  their  victims ;  and  we  have 
surely  no  reason  to  hope  that  their  souls  are  regarded  with 
more  compassion. 

In  vain  has  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  given  the  command 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature ;  his  professed  disciples 
in  the  slave  States  have  issued  a  counter  order ;  and  as  we 
have  already  seen,  have  by  their  laws,  incapacitated  2,000,000 
of  their  fellow-men  from  complying  with  the  injunction,  "search 
the  Scriptures."  Not  only  are  the  slaves  debarred  from  read- 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY.  137 

ing  the  wonderful  things  of  God — they  are  practically  prevent 
ed  with  a  few  exceptions  from  even  hearing  of  them. 

In  Georgia,  any  justice  of  the  peace  may,  at  his  discretion, 
break  up  any  religious  assembly  of  slaves,  and  may  order  each 
slave  present  to  be  "  corrected  without  trial,  by  receiving  on 
the  bare  back,  twenty-five  stripes  with  a  whip,  switch  or 
cow-skin." 

In  South  Carolina,  slaves  may  not  meet  together  for  the  pur 
pose  of  "  religious  worship"  before  sunrise  or  after  sunset, 
unless  the  majority  of  the  meeting  be  composed  of  white  per 
sons,  under  the  penalty  of  twenty  lashes  well  laid  on."  As  it 
will  be  rather  difficult  for  the  slave  to  divine  before  he  goes  to 
the  meeting,  how  many  blacks,  and  how  many  whites  will  be 
present,  and  of  course  which  color  will  have  the  "rmjority,"  a 
due  regard  for  his  back,  will  keep  him  from  the  meeting. 

In  Virginia,  all  evening  meetings  of  slaves  at  any  meeting 
house,  are  unequivocally  forbidden. 

In  Mississippi,  the  law  permits  the  master  to  suffer  his  slave 
to  attend  the  preaching  of  a  white  minister. 

It  is  very  evident  that  when  public  opinion  tolerates  such 
laws,  it  will  not  tolerate  the  general  religious  instruction  of  the. 
slaves.  True  it  is,  a  master  may  carry  or  send  his  slaves  to 
the  parish  church,  and  true  it  is  that  some  do  attend,  and  re 
ceive  benefit  from  their  attendance, 

On  this,  as  well  as  on  every  other  subject  relating  to  slavery, 
we  would  rather  fall  short  of,  than  exceed  the  truth.  We  will 
not  assert  there  are  no  Christians  among  the  slaves,  for  we 
trust  there  are  some.  When,  however,  we  recollect,  that  they 
are  denied  the  Scriptures,  and  all  the  usual  advantages  of  the 
Sunday  School,  and  are  forbidden  to  unite  among  themselves 
in  acts  of  social  worship  and  instruction,  and  that  almost  all 
the  sermons  they  hear,  are  such  as  are  addressed  to  educated 
whites,  and  of  course  above  their  own  comprehension,  we  may 
form  some  idea  of  the  obstacles  opposed  to  their  spiritual  im 
provement.  Let  it  be  also  recollected,  that  every  master  pos 
sesses  the  tremendous  power  of  keeping  his  slaves  in  utter 
ignorance  of  their  Maker's  will,  and  of  their  own  immortal  des 
tinies.  And  now  whh  all  these  facts,  and  their  consequences 
and  tendencies  in  remembrance,  we  ask,  if  we  do  not  make  a 
most  abundant  and  charitable  allowance  when  we  suppose  that 
245,000  slaves  possess  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  religioi)  ot 
12* 


•138  AMERICAN   SLAVERY. 

-Christ?  And  yet  after  this  admission,  one  which  probably  no 
candid  person  will  think  too  limited,  there  will  remain  in  the 
bosom  of  our  country  TWO  MILLIONS  of  human  beings,  who,  in 
consequence  of  our  laws,  are  in  a  state  of  heathenism  !  But 
probably  many  will  refuse  their  assent  to  this  conclusion  with 
out  further  and  more  satisfactory  evidence  of  its  correctness. 
To  such  persons  we  submit  the  following  testimony,  furnished 
by  slave  holders  themselves.  In  1831,  the  Rev.  Charles  C. 
Jones  preached  a  sermon  before  two  associations  of  planters  in 
Georgia,  one  of  Liberty  County,  and  the  other  of  Mclntosh 
County.  This  sermon  is  before  us,  and  we  quote  from  it. 

"Generally  speaking  they  (the  slaves)  appear  to  us  to  be 
without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world,  a  NATION  OF  HEA 
THEN  in  our  very  midst— We  cannot  cry  out  against  the  Papists 
for  withholding  the  Scriptures  from  the  common  people,  and 
keeping  them  in  ignorance  of  the  way  of  life;  for  we  withhold 
the  Bible  from  our  servants,  and  keep  them  in  ignorance  of  it, 
while  we  will  not  use  the  means  to  have  it  read  and  explained 
to  them.  The  cry  of  our  perishing  servants  comes  up  to  us 
from  the  sultry  plains  as  they  bend  at  their  toil — it  comes  up 
to  us  from  their  humble  cottages  when  they  return  at  evening 
to  rest  their  weary  limbs — it  comes  up  to  us  from  the  midst  of 
their  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  adultery  and  lewdness. 
We  have  manifested  no  emotions  of  horror  at  abandoning  the 
souls  of  our  servants  to  the  adversary,  the  roaring  lion  that 
walketh  about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 

On  the  5th  December,  1833,  a  committee  of  the  Synod  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject 
of  the  religious  instruction  of  the  colored  population,  made  a 
report  which  has  been  published,  and  in  which  this  language  is 
•used. 

"  Who  would  credit  it,  that  in  these  years  of  revival  and  bene 
volent  effort,  in  this  Christian  republic,  there  are  over  TWO 
MILLIONS  of  human  beings  in  the  condition  of  HEATHEN,  and  in 
some  respects  in  a  worse  condition.  From  long  continued  and 
close  observation,  we  believe  that  their  moral  and  religious 
condition  is  such  that  they  may  justly  be  considered  the  HEA 
THEN  of  this  Christian  country,  and  will  bear  comparison  with 
heathen  in  any  country  in  the  world.  The  negroes  are  desti 
tute  of  the  Gospel,  and  ever  will  be  under  the  present  state  of 
>  things.  In  the  vast  field  extending  from  an  entire  State  beyond 


AMERICAN  SLAVERY.  139 

the  Potomac,  to  the  Sabine  river,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Ohio,  there  are  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge  not  twelve  men 
exclusively  devoted  to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  negroes. 
In  the  present  state  of  feeling  in  the  South,  a  ministry  of  their 
own  color  could  neither  be  obtained  NOR  TOLERATED. 

But  do  not  the  negroes  have  access  to  the  Gospel  through 
the  stated  ministry  of  the  whites  ?  We  answer  NO  ;  the  negroes 
have  no  regular  and  efficient  ministry ;  as  a  matter  of  course, 
no  churches;  neither  is  there  sufficient  room  in  white  churches 
for  their  accommodation.  We  know  of  but  five  churches  in  the 
slave  holding  States  built  expressly  for  their  use;  these  are  all 
in  the  State  of  Georgia.  We  may  now  inquire  if  they  enjoy 
the  privileges  of  the  Gospel  in  their  own  houses,  and  on  our 
plantations  ?  'Again  we  return  a  negative  answer.  They  have 
no  Bibles  to  read  by  their  own  firesides — they  have  no  family 
altars  ;  and  when  in  affliction,  sickness,  or  death,  they  have  no 
minister  to  address  to  them  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel,  nor 
to  bury  them  with  solemn  and  appropriate  services." 

In  a  late  number  of  the  Charleston  (S.  C.)  Observer,  a  cor 
respondent  remarked:  "Let  us  establish  missionaries  among 
-our  own  negroes,  who,  in  view  of  religious  knowledge,  are  as 
debasingly  ignorant  as  any  one  on  the  coast  of  Africa;  for' I 
hazard  the  assertion,  that  throughout  the  bounds  of  our  synod, 
'  there  are  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  slaves,  speaking  the 
same  language  as  ourselves,  who  never  heard  of  the  plan  of 
-  salvation  by  a  Redeemer." 

The  editor,  instead  of  contradicting  this  broad  assertion,  adds : 
"  We  fully  concur  with  what  our  correspondent  has  said  respect 
ing  the  benighted  heathen  among  ourselves." 

Such  is  American  slavery — a  system  which  classes  with  the 
beasts  of  the  field,  over  whom  dominion  has  been  given  to  man 
-an  intelligent  and  accountable  being,  the  instant  his  Creator  has 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life.  Over  this  infant 
heir  of  immortality,  no  mother  has  a  right  to  watch — no  father 
may  guide  his  feeble  steps,  check  his  wayward  appetites  and 
train  him  for  future  usefulness,  happiness  and  glory.  Torn  from 
his  parents,  and  sold  in  the  market,  he  soon  -finds  himself  labor 
ing  among  strangers  under  the  whip  of  a  driver,  and  his  task 
augmenting  with  his  ripening  strength.  Day  after  day  and  year 
after  year,  is  he  driven  to  the  cotton  or  sugar-field,  as  the  ox  to 
Vthe.  furrow.  No  hope  of  reward  lightens  his  toil— the  subject 


140  AMERICAN    SLAVERY. 

of  insult,  the  victim  of  brutality,  the  laws  of  his  country  afford 
him  no  redress — his  wife,  such  only  in  name,  may  at  any 
moment  be  dragged  from  his  side — his  children,  heirs  only  of 
his  misery  and  degradation,  are  but  articles  of  merchandise — 
his  mind,  stupified  by  his  oppressors,  is  wrapped  in  darkness — 
his  soul,  no  man  careth  for  it — his  body,  worn  with  stripes  and 
toil,  is  at  length  committed  to  the  earth,  like  the  brute  that 
perisheth. 

This  is  the  system  which  the  American  Anti-slavery  Society 
declares  to  be  sinful,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  immediately 
abolished;  and  this  is  the  system  which  the  American  Coloni 
zation  Society  excuses,  and  which,  it  contends,  ought  to  be  per 
petual,  rather  than  its  victims  should  enjoy  their  rights  in  "  the 
white  man's  land." 

To  one  whose  moral  sense  has  not  been  perverted,  it  would 
seem  a  temerity  bordering  on  blasphemy,  to  contend  that  such 
a  system  can  be  approved  by  a  just  and  holy  God,  or  sanc 
tioned  by  the  precepts  of  his  blessed  Gospel.  Slavery,  we  are 
told,  is  not  forbidden  in  the  Bible  ;  but  who  will  dare  to  say 
that  cruelty  and  injustice,  and  compulsory  heathenism  are  not? 

We  are  often  reminded,  that  St.  Paul  exhorts  slaves  to  be 
obedient  to  their  masters ;  but  so  he  does  subjects  to  their  ru 
lers.  If,  in  the  one  instance,  he  justified  slavery,  so  did  he  despot 
ism  in  the  other.  The  founder  of  Christianity  and  his  apostles, 
interfered  not  with  political  institutions,  but  laid  down  rules  for 
the  conduct  of  individuals;  and  St.  Paul  in  requiring  masters 
to  give  their  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  virtually 
condemned  the  whole  system  of  slavery,  since  he  who  receives 
what  is  just  and  equal  cannot  be  a  slave.  If  it  was  right  in 
the  time  of  St.  Paul  to  hold  white  men  as  slaves,  would  it  be 
wrong  to  do  so  now  ?  If  slavery  is  lawful  now,  it  must  have  been 
lawful  in  its  commencement,  since  perseverance  in  wrong,  can 
never  constitute  right.  Let  it  be  explained  how  free  men  with 
their  posterity,  to  the  latest  generation,  can  now  be  lawfully  re 
duced  to  slavery,  and  forever  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  duties 
and  consolations  of  Christianity,  and  we  will  unite  with  those 
who  justify  American  slavery. 


AMERICAN    SLAVERY.  141 


CHAPTER    II. 

PROPOSED  OBJECTS  AND  MEASURES   OF  THE  AMERICAN  ANTH3LAVERV 
SOCIETY — CENSDRE  OF  ABOLITIONISTS. 

THE  next  great  principle  maintained  by  the  Society  is,  that 
slavery  being  sinful,  it  ought  immediately  to  cease.  Admitting 
the  premises,  the  conclusion  seems  irresistible.  Sin  is  opposi 
tion  to  the  will  of  our  Creator  and  Supreme  Lawgiver.  His 
wisdom  and  goodness  are  alike  infinite,  and  if  slavery  be  incon 
sistent  with  his  will,  it  must  necessarily  be  inconsistent  with  the 
welfare  of  his  creatures.  Reason  and  revelation,  moreover, 
assure  us  that  God  will  punish  sin :  and  therefore  to  contend 
that  it  is  necessary  or  expedient  to  continue  in  sin,  is  to  im 
peach  every  attribute  of  the  Deity,  and  to  brave  the  vengeance 
of  omnipotence. 

These  principles  lead  the  Society  to  aim  at  effecting  the  fol 
lowing  objects,  viz  :_ 

1st.  The  immediate  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  the  Uni 
ted  States. 

2d.  As  a  necessary  consequence,  the  suppression  of  the 
American  slave  trade. 

3d.  The  ultimate  elevation  of  the  black  population  to  an 
equality  with  the  white,  in  civil  and  religious  privileges. 

But  principles  may  be  sound  and  objects  may  be  good, 
and  yet  the  measures  adopted  to  enforce  those  principles,  and 
to  attain  those  objects,  may  be  unlawful.  Let  us  then  inquire 
what  are  the  measures  contemplated  by  the  Society. 

Slavery  exists  under  the  authority  of  the  State  Legisla 
tures,  in  the  several  states ;  and  under  the  authority  of  Con 
gress  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  in  the  United  States'  ter 
ritories. 

The  members  of  the  Society  are  all  represented  in  Congress, 
and  the  Constitution  guaranties  to  them  the  right  of  petition. 
They  will  therefore  petition  Congress  to  exercise  the  power  it 
possesses,  to  a.bolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
the  Territories.  But  the  Society  is  not  represented  in  the  State 
Legislatures,  and  therefore  petitions  to  them  might  be  deemed 
officious,  and  would  not  probably  lead  to  any  advatageous  re- 


142  CHARGES  AGAINST  ABOLITIONISTS. 

suit.  The  Society  will  therefore  use  the  right  possessed  t»y 
every  member  of  the  community,  the  right  of  speech  and  of 
the  press.  They  will  address  arguments  to  the  understandings 
and  the  consciences  of  their  fellow  citizens,  and  endeavor  to 
convince  them  of  the  duty  and  policy  of  immediate  emancipa 
tion.  Legislatures  are  with  us,  but  the  mere  creatures  of  the 
people,  and  when  the  people  of  the  slave  States  demand  the  abo 
lition  of  slavery,  their  Legislatures  will  give  effect  to  their  will, 
by  passing  the  necessary  laws. 

The  means  by  which  the  Society  will  endeavor  to  secure  to 
the  blacks  an  equality  of  civil  and  religious  privileges,  are 
frankly  avowed  to  be  the  encouragement  of  their  intellectual, 
moral,  and  religious  improvement,  and  the  removal  of  existing 
prejudices  against  them.  To  prevent  any  misapprehensions 
of  the  real  design  of  the  Society,  The  Constitution  expressly 
declares  that  the  Society  will  never  "  in  any  way  countenance 
the  oppressed  in  vindicating  their  rights,  by  resorting  to  phy 
sical  force." 

Such  are  the  principles  and  designs  of  those  who  are  now 
designated  as  Abolitionists,  and  never  since  the  settlement  of 
the  country,  has  any  body  of  citizens  been  subjected  in  an 
equal  degree,  to  unmerited,  and  unmeasured  reproach. 

We  have  seen  with  what  kind  of  temper  Colonizationists 
speak  of  free  negroes,  and  we  may  well  question,  when  we 
call  to  mind  the  obloquy  they  have  heaped  upon  Abolitionists, 
whether  the  latter  are  not  in  their  opinion  the  greater  nuisances. 
Much  as  the  free  negroes  have  suffered  from  the  charges  of  the 
Society,  still  there  have  been  limits  to  the  invectives  hurled 
against  them.  No  chancellor  has  adjudged  them  to  be  "  reck 
less  incendiaries."*  No  counsellor,  learned  in  the  law,  has 
charged  them  with  being  guilty  of  "a  palpable  nullifica 
tion  of  that  Constitution  which  they  had  sworn  to  support."! 
No  honorable  Senator  has  denounced  them  as  "  fanatics,  in 
creasing  injury  and  sealing  oppression. "J  The  chairman  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  New-York  Colonization  Soci 
ety  never  asserted  that  their  DESIGN  was  "beyond  a  doubt  to 
foment  a  servile  war  in  the  South. "§  Nor  did  even  the  New 

*  Speech  of  Chancellor  Walworth  of  New-York. 

t  Speech  of  D.  B.  Ogdcn,  Esq.  of  New-York. 

tHon.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 

$  Commercial  Advertiser,  9th  June,  1834. 


WIL3ERFORCE  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES.  143 

York  Courier  and  Enquirer  ever  propose,  that  the  city  authori 
ties  should  inform  them,  that  they  must  prosecute  "  their  trea 
sonable  and  BEASTLY  plans  at  their  own  peril ;"  in  other  words, 
that  they  should  not  be  protected  from  mobs.*  Nor,  finally, 
has  any  city  corporation  accused  them  of  holding  sentiments, 
"  demoralizing  in  themselves,  and  little  short  of  treason  towards 
the  government  of  our  country."! 

But  Abolitionists  are  neither  astonished  nor  dismayed  at  the 
torrent  of  insult  and  calumny  that  has  been  poured  upon  them, 
as  though  some  strange  thing  had  happened  unto  them.  They 
remember  that  Wilberforce  and  his  companions  experienced  si 
milar  treatment,  while  laboring  for  the  abolition  of  the  slave 
trade ;  and  they  remember  also  the  glorious  triumphs  they 
achieved,  and  the  full  though  tardy  justice  that  has  been  done 
to  their  motives.  A  few  brief  reminiscences  may  be  both  in 
teresting  and  useful. 

In  1776,  the  British  House  of  Commons  rejected  a  resolu 
tion,  that  the  slave  trade  "  was  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and 
the  rights  of  man."  Yet  that  trade  is  now  piracy  by  act  of 
Parliament. 

In  1788,  on  a  bill  being  introduced  into  the  House  of  Lords, 
to  mitigate  the  horrors  of  the  trade,  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow 
ridiculed  "the  sudden  fit  of  philanthropy  that  had  given  it 
birth,"  and  Lord  Chandos  predicted  "the  insurrection  of  the 
slaves,  and  the  massacre  of  their  masters,  from  the  agitation 
of  the  subject." 

In  1789,  on  a  motion  of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  that  the  house 
would  take  the  trade  into  consideration,  a  member  pronounced 
the  attempt  to  abolish  it  "  hypocritical,  fanatic,  and  methodisti- 
cal,"  and  contended  that  Abolition  must  lead  to  "  insurrections, 
massacre  and  ruin." 

In  1791,  Col.  Tarleton,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  speaking 

*  Courier  and  Enquirer,  llth  July,  1834.  The  same  paper  of  the  27th 
Dec.  1834,  contains  the  following. — "  We  do  say,  and  say  m  all  the  earnest 
ness  jf  conviction,  that  no  meeting  of 'Abolitionists  sfwuld  ever  be  suffered 
tc  go  on  with  its  proceedings  in  the  United  States.  Whenever  these  wretched 
disturbers  of  the  public  peace,  and  plotters  of  MURDER,  RAPINE,  AND  A  DISSO 
LUTION  OF  THE  UNION,  have  the  impudence  to  hold  a  meeting,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  rational  citizens— always  a  vast  majority  in  every  place— to  go  to  that 
meeting,  and  there,  by  exercising  the  right  of  every  American  citizen,  make 
the  expression  of  their  disapprobation  and  disgust,  loud  enough,  and  empha 
tic  enough,  to  render  it  impossible  for  treason  to  go  on  with  its  machina 
tions.  Let  sedition  be  driven  from  its  den,  as  often  as  its  minions  congre- 

." 

t  Resolutions  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  Utica. 


14-1  WILBERFORCE  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES. 

of  the  proposed  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  declared  that 
"  the  measure  was  fit  only  for  the  bigotry  and  superstition  of  the 
twelfth  century."  Lord  John  Russell  asserted  that  Abolition 
was  "  visionary  and  delusive,  a  feeble  attempt  without  the  power 
to  serve  the  cause  of  humanity." 

Lord  Sheffield  could  "trace  in  the  arguments  for  Aboli 
tion  nothing  like  reason,  but  on  the  contrary,  downright 
phrensy." 

In  1792,  the  Abolitionists  were  denounced  in  Parliament, 
as  "  a  junto  of  sectaries,  sophists,  enthusiasts,  and  fanatics." 

In  1793,  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  now  William  the  IV.,  in  his 
place  in  the  House  of  Lords,  declared  the  Abolitionists  to  be 
"  fanatics,  and  hypocrites,"  and  so  far  violated  parliamentary 
decorum,  as  to  apply  these  epithets  to  Mr.  Wilberforce  by 
name.  Yet  has  he  lived  to  crown  the  labors  and  fulfil  the 
hopes  of  Wilberforce,  by  giving  his  assent  to  the  bill  abolishing 
slavery  throughout  the  British  dominions. 

In  1 804,  Lord  Temple  declared  in  Parliament,  that  to  abolish 
the  slave  trade,  would  be  "  the  death-warrant  of  every  white 
inhabitant  in  the  islands" 

Ten  times  did  Mr.  Wilberforce  bring  the  subject  of  the 
abolition  of  the  traffick  before  Parliament,  and  ten  times  was 
he  doomed  to  witness  the  failure  of  his  efforts ;  nor  was  this 
detestable  commerce  suppressed,  till  thirty  years  after  the  first 
motion  against  it  had  been  made  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Now,  it  is  prohibited  by  the  whole  Christian  world. 

When  the  Abolitionists  of  the  present  day,  think  of  these 
facts,  and  recollect  the  reproaches  heaped  on  Wilberforce  and 
his  colleagues,  by  a  Chancellor  and  dignified  Senators,  well  may 
they  thank  God  and  take  courage.  And  who  are  these  men, 
we  would  ask,  whom  colonizationists  are  honoring  with  epi 
thets  similar  to  those  which  the  advocates  of  the  slave  trade  so 
liberally  applied  to  the  philanthropists  who  opposed  it  ?  We 
will  suffer  an  authority  justly  respected  by  the  religious  com 
munity  to  answer  the  question. 

Abbott's  Religious  Magazine,  in  an  article  on  the  mobs 
against  the  New- York  Abolitionists,  says, 

"  The  men  against  whom  their  fury  was  directed,  were  in 
general  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  other  distinguished  mem 
bers  of  Christian  churches.  The  more  prominent  ones,  were 
the  very  persons  who  have  been  most  honored  in  times  past, 


SINFULNESS  OF  SLAVERY*  145 

on  account  of  their  personal  exertions  and  pecuniary  contribu 
tions  for  every  benevolent  purpose.  Let  the  whole  land  be 
searched,  and  we  believe  that  no  men  will  be  found  to  have 
done  so  much  for  the  promotion  of  temperance,  purity,  and 
every  benevolent  and  religious  object." 


CHAPTER    III. 

FANATICISM    OF    ABOLITIONISTS. 

ONE  of  the  most  usual  terms  by  which  Abolitionists  are  de 
signated  by  their  opponents  is,  "the  fanatics."  It  seems  they 
are  fanatics,  because  they  believe  slavery  to  be  sinful.  The 
grounds  for  this  belief,  have  been  already  stated.  But  is  the 
sinfulness  of  slavery  a  ?iew  doctrine ;  or  has  it  been  held  only 
by  weak  and  misguided  men  ?  Is  Wilberlbrce  to  be  denounced 
as  a  "wretched  fanatic,"  because  he  declared,  "slavery  is  the 
full  measure  of  pure  unsophisticated  wickedness,  and  scorning 
all  competition  or  comparison,  it  stands  alone  Avithout  a  rival, 
in  the  secure,  undisputed  possession  of  its  detestable  pre-emi 
nence." 

Was  Jonathan  Edwards  a  poor  "misguided"  man,  for  thus 
addressing  slaveholders.  "  While  you  hold  your  negroes  in 
slavery,  you  do  wrong,  exceedingly  wrong — you  do  not,  as  you 
would  men  should  do  to  you ;  you  commit  sin  in  the  sight  of  God  ; 
you  daily  violate  the  plain  rights  of  mankind,  and  that  in  a 
higher  degree  than  if  you  committed  theft  or  robbery."  Were 
Porteus,  Horseley,  Fox,  Johnson,  Burke,  Jefferson,  and  Bolivar, 
"  miserable  enthusiasts  ?"  Yet  hear  their  testimonies. 

"  The  Christian  religion  is  opposed  to  slavery,  in  its  spirit 
and  in  its  principles;  it  classes  men-stealers  among  murderers 
of  fathers  and  of  mothers,  and  the  most  profane  criminals  upon 
earth." — Porteus. 

"  Slavery  is  injustice,  which  no  consideretion  of  policy  can 
extenuate." — Horseley. 

"  Personal  freedom  is  the  right  of  every  human  being.  It 
is  a  right  of  which  he  who  deprives  a  fellow  creature,  was 
absolutely  criminal  in  so  depriving  him ;  and  which  he  who 
withheld,  was  no  less  criminal  in  withholding." — Fox* 

13 


SINFULNESS  OF  SLAVERY. 

"  No  man  is  by  nature  the  property  of  another.  The  rights 
6f  nature  must  be  some  way  forfeited,  before  they  can  be  justly 
taken  away."- — Johnson. 

"  Slavery  is  a  state  so  improper,  so  degrading,  and  so  ruinous 
to  the  feelings  and  capacities  of  human  nature,  that  it  ought  not 
to  be  suffered  to  exist." — Burke. 

"  The  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which  can  take  sides  with 
its,  in  such  a  contest."  (A  contest  with  insurgent  slaves.) — 
Jefferson. 

"  Slavery  is  the  infringement  of  all  laws—a  law  having  a 
tendency  to  preserve  slavery,  would  be  the  grossest  sacrilege." 
^—Bolivar. 

We  would  take  the  liberty  of  recommending  to  the  con 
sideration  of  certain  Methodist  Colonizationists,  the  following, 
language  of  John  Wesley. 

"  Men-buyers,  are  exactly  on  a  level  with  men-stealers.  In 
deed,  you  say,  I  pay  honestly  for  my  goods,  and  am  not  con 
cerned  to  know  how  they  are  come  by.  Nay,  but  you  are — > 
you  are  deeply  concerned  to  know  that  they  are  honestly  come 
by.  Otherwise,  you  are  a  partaker  with  a  thief,  and  are  not  a 
jot  honester  than  him.  But  you  know  they  are  not  honestly 
eomc  by  ;  you  know  they  are  procured  by  means  nothing  so 
innocent  as  picking  of  pockets,  or  robbery  on  the  highway* 
Perhaps  you  will  say,  I  do  not  buy  my  negroes,  1  only  use 
those  Jeft  me  by  my  father.  So  far  is  well,  but  is  it  enough  to 
satisfy  your  conscience?  Had  your  father,  have  you,  has  any 
man  living  a  right  to  use  another  as  a  slave  ?  It  cannot  be, 
even  setting  Revelation  aside." 

But  Abolitionists  are  fanatics,  not  merely  because  they  be 
lieve  slavery  sinful,  but  also  because  they  contend  it  ought  imme 
diately  to  be  abolished.  In  their  fanaticism  on  this  point,  as  well 
es  on  the  other,  they  are  kept  in  countenance  by  a  host  of  divines 
and  statesmen,  and  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  thousands,  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  Christians.  Men  of  all  ranks  and  charac 
ters,  from  John  Wesley  to  Daniel  O'Connel,  have  exhibited  this 
fanaticism — it  has  been  borne  by  the  republicans  of  France, 
the  Catholics  of  South  America,  the  people  of  England,  Scot 
land  and  Ireland. 

So  long  ago  as  1774,  John  W'esley  declared :  "It  cannot  be 
that  either  war  or  contract  can  give  any  man  such  a  property 
in  another,  as  he  has  in  his  shenp  and  oxen.  Much  less  is  it 


IMMEDIATE  ABOLITION.  14/ 

-possible  that  any  child  of  man  should  ever  be  born  a  slave.  If, 
therefore,  you  have  any  regard  to  justice,  (to  say  nothing  of 
mercy,  nor  the  revealed  will  of  God)  render  unto  all  their  due. 
Give  liberty  to  whom  liberty  is  due,  that  is,  to  every  child  of 
man,  to  every  partaker  of  human  nature." 

Jonathan  Edwards  was  fanatic  enough  to  assert : — "  Every 
man,  who  cannot  show  that  his  negro  hath,  by  his  voluntary 
conduct,  forfeited  his  liberty,  is  obligated  immediately  to  manu 
mit  him." 

One  million  five  hundred  thousand  persons  petitioned  the  Bri 
tish  Parliament  for  the  total  and  immediate  abolition  of  slavery. 
Indeed,  Mr.  O'Connel  expressed  the  nearly  unanimous  sentiment 
of  the  whole  nation,  when  he  exclaimed : 

"  I  am  for  speedy,  immediate  abolition.  I  care  not  what 
creed  or  color  slavery  may  assume,  J  am  for  its  total,  its  instant 
abolition." 

We  have  not  yet. exhausted  the  proofs  of  the  alleged  fanati 
cism;  of  Abolitionists.  It  seems  they  are  fanatics,  for  wishing 
to  elevate  the  blacks  to  a  civil  and  religious  equality  with  the 
whites.  Certain  Colonization  editors  deny  to  Abolitionists,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  constitutional  right  of  freedom  of  speech,  the 
press,  and  pulpit,  and  even  of  peaceably  assembling  together ; 
and  multitudes  seem  to  think,  that  they  have  forfeited  the  pro 
tection  of  the  ninth  commandment.  Men  of  all  ranks  have 
united  in  charging  upon  them  designs  which  they  indignantly 
disclaim,  and  in  support  of  which,  not  a  particle  of  evidence  has 
been,  or  can  be  adduced.  ,One  of  the  designs  falsely  imputed 
to  them,  is  that  of  bringing  about  an  amalgamation  of  colors 
by  intermarriages.  In  vain  have  they  again  and  again  denied 
any  such  design;  in  vain  have  their  writings  been  searched 
for  any  recommendation  of  such  amalgamation.  No  Abo^ 
litionist  is  known  to  have  married  a  negro,  or  to  have  given 
his  child  to  a  negro;  yet  has  the  charge  of  amalgamation  been 
repeated,  and  repeated,  till  many  have,  no  doubt,  honestly  be 
lieved  it. 

During  the  very  height  of  the  New-York  riots,  and  as  if  to 
excite  the  mob  to  still  greater  alroeitiQs,  the  editor  of  the  Com 
mercial  Advertiser  asserted,  that  the  Abolitionists  had  "sought 
to  degrade"  the  identity  of  their -fellow  citizens,  as  a  "  nation  of 
white  men,  by  reducing  it  to  the  condition  of  MONGRELS."— Cpm,* 
Adv.  lithJuly,  1834, 


148  RIGHTS   OF   PEOPLE   OP   COLOR. 

No  one,  in  the  possession  of  his  reasoning  faculties,  can  be 
lieve  it  to  be  the  duty  of  white  men  to  select  black  wives ;  and 
Abolitionists  have  given  every  proof  the  nature  of  the  case  will 
admit,  that  they  countenance  no  such  absurdity. 

But  most  true  it  is,  that  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  avows  its 
intention  to  labor  for  the  civil  and  religious  equality  of  the  blacks. 
It  has  been  found  expedient  to  accuse  it  of  aiming  also  at  their 
social  equality.  He  must  be  deeply  imbued  with  fanaticism, 
or  rather  with  insanity,  who  contends,  that  because  a  man  has 
a  dark  skin,  he  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  a  reception  in  our  fami 
lies,  and  a  place  at  our  tables. 

We  all  know  white  men  whose  characters  and  habits  render 
them  repulsive  to  us,  and  whom  no  consideration  would  induce 
us  to  admit  into  our  social  circles ;  and  can  it  be  believed,  that 
Abolitionists  are  willing  to  extend  to  negroes,  merely  on  account 
of  their  color,  courtesies  and  indulgences,  which,  in  innumera 
ble  instances,  they  withhold,  and  properly  withhold,  from  their 
white  fellow  citizens.  But  who  pretends  that,  because  a  man 
is  so  disagreeable  in  his  manners  and  person  that  we  refuse  to 
associate  with  him,  that  therefore  he  ought  to  be  denied  the 
right  of  suffrage,  -the  privilege  of  choosing  his  trade  and  pro 
fession,  the  opportunities  of  acquiring  knowledge,  and  the  liberty 
of  pursuing  his  own  happiness  ?  Yet  such  is  our  conduct  to 
wards  the  free  blacks,  and  it  is  this  conduct  which  the  Society 
aims  at  reforming.  The  Society  does  contend,  that  no  man 
ought  to  be  punished  for  the  complexion  God  has  given  him. 
And  are  not  black  men  punished  for  the  color  of  their  skin  ? 
Read  the  laws  of  the  slave  States  relative  to  free  negroes ;  alas  ! 
read  the  laws  of  Ohio,  and  Connecticut ;  read  the  decision  of 
Judge  Daggett ;  behold  them  deprived  of  the  means  of  educa 
tion,  and  excluded  from  almost  every  trade  and  profession  ;  see 
them  compelled  to  wander  in  poverty  and  in  ignorance.  Now,  all 
this,  Abolitionists  contend  is  wrong,  and  their  opposition  to  this 
system  of  persecution  and  oppression  is  fanaticism  !  Be  it  so,  but 
it  is  only  modern  fanaticism,  and  it  was  not  so  regarded  when  in 
1785,  JOHN  JAY  declared :  "  I  wish  to  see  all  unjust  and  unnecessa 
ry  discriminations  every  where  abolished,  and  that  the  time  may 
soon  come,  when  all  our  inhabitants,  of  every  COLOR  and  de 
nomination,  shall  be  free  and  EQUAL  PARTAKERS  OF  OUR  POLI 
TICAL  LIBERTY. 


CHARGES    AGAINST    ABOLITIONISTS. 

It  requires  no  great  exercise  of  candor,  to  admit,  that  the 
prejudices  existing  against  the  blacks  are  sinful,  whenever  they 
lead  us  to  treat  those  unhappy  people  with  injustice  and  inhu 
manity.  They  have  their  rights  as  well  as  ourselves.  They 
have  no  right  to  associate  vvith  us  against  our  .will,  but  they 
have  a  right  to  acquire  property  by  lawful  industry  ;  theyJ.K*ye 
a  right  to  participate  in  the  blessings  of  education  and  political 
liberty.  When,  therefore,  our  prejudices  lead  us.to  keep  the 
blacks  in  poverty,  by  restricting  their  industry,*  to  keep  them 
in  ignorance,  by  excluding  them  from  our  seminaries,  an$  pre 
venting  them  from  having  seminaries  of  their  own  ;  to.  keep 
them  in  a  state  of  vassalage  by  denying  them  any  choice  in 
their  rulers  ;  our  prejudices  are  so  far  sinful,  and  so  far  only 
does  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  aim  at  removing  them. 


CHAPTER    IX 

INCENDIARISM  AND  TREASON  OF  ABOLITIONISTS. 

IT  is  not  enough  that.  Abolitionists  should  be  represented  as 
^fanatics;  it  has  been  deemed  expedient,  to  hold  them  up  to  the 
community  as  incendiaries  and  traitors.  The  chairman  of  |!\e 
Executive  Committee  of  the  New-York  Colonization  Society, 
thus  speaks  of  the  Anti-slavery  Society,  in  his  paper  of  the  9th 
June,  1834.  "  The  design  of  this  Society  .is,  beyond  a  doubt, 
to  foment  a  servile  war  in  £he  -South — they  have  been  heard 
to  say,  blood  .must  be  she4,  .  and  the  sooner  the  better — this 
Society  owes  its  existence  not  to  the  love  of  liberty,  or  any  par 
ticular  affection  for  the  slaves,  but  to  cruel  and  bitter  hatred, 
and  malignity."  Jn..an  earlier  paper,  he  inserted  an  .article 
accusing  Abolitionists  of  seeking  to  use  *he  pulpits.,  "  /or  tup 
base  purpose  of  encouraging  scenes  of  bloodshed.'' 

Here  we  fijid  the  most  atrocious  designs,  imputed  to  men 
well  known  in,  the  community  for  active  benevolence  and  prir 
vate  worth ;  and  yet  nqt  a  scintilla.af  evidence  is  offered  in  sup.- 
portof  the  extraordinary  fact,  .that  such  men  should  harbor 

*  As  one  instance  among  the  innumerable  restrictions  on  the  industry  of 
these  people,  we  may  mention,  that  nq  free  blank,  however  moral  and  int^L- 
iigent,  can  pbtain  a  license  in  the  city  of  New- York  to  drive  a  cart ! 

13* 


450  CHARGES   AGAINST   ABOLITIONISTS, 

such  designs.  In  this  case  the  accused  can  of  course  offer  only 
negative  proof  of  their  innocence.  That  proof  is  to  be  found 
first  in  their  individual  characters.  Secondly,  in  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  Abolitionists  are  emphatically  peace  men,  that  is, 
they  hold  the  quaker  doctrine  of  the  unlawfulness  of  war,  and 
maintain  that  it  would  be  sinful  in  the  slaves  to  attempt  effecting 
their  freedom  by  force  of  arms.*  Thirdly,  in  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  Society  that  they  will  "  never  in  any  way 
countenance  the  oppressed  in  vindicating  their  rights  by  resort 
ing  to  physical  force ;"  and,  fourthly,  in  the  fact  that  Abolition 
ists  as  «uch,  have  in  no  instance  recommended,  or  committed 
an  act  of  unlawful  violence. 

But  by  declaiming  against  slavery,  Abolitionists  are  exciting 
odium  against  slave  holders.  If  he  who  labors  to  render  any 
particular  sin,  and  those  who  are  guilty  of  it  odious,  is  of  course 
a  "  reckless  incendiary,  few  are  more  justly  and  honorably  en 
titled  to  this  epithet,  than  the  excellent  Chancellor  of  New- 
York.  Few  have  shown  more  intrepidity  in  denouncing  the 
venders  of  ardent  spirits  than  this  gentleman;  and  Abolitionists 
in  their  warfare  against  slavery,  may  "well  take  a  lesson  from 
the  example  he  has  set  them  of  an  honest  and  fearless  discharge 
of  duty.  Had  'the  President  of  the  New-York  Temperance 
Society  and  his  associates  exercised  the  same  tenderness  and 
•gentleness  towards  drunkards  and  venders,  that  he  now  shows 
towards  slave  holders,  Temperance  Societies  would  have  check 
ed  the  progress  of  drunkenness,  as  little  as  Colonization  promises 
to  do  that  of  slavery. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  was  not  denounced  as  a  reckless  in 
cendiary,  'when  in  the  midst  of  a  slave  population,  he  declared 
that  the  Almighty  had  no  attribute  that  could  take  side  with  the 
masters  in  a  contest  with  their  slaves ;  nor  did  JOHN  JAY  forfeit 
the  confidence  of  his  countrymen,  when  during  the  revolution 
ary  war,  he  asserted  "  till  America  -comes  into  this  measure, 
(abolition  of  slavery)  her  prayers  to  heaven  for  liberty  will  be 
IMPIOUS;"  nor  when  addressing  the  Legislature  of  New- York, 
then  a  slave  State,  he  told  them  that  persons  "free  :by  the  .aws 
of  God,  are  held  in  slavery  by  the  laws  of  man." 

Nor  were  FRANTKLIN  and  his  associates  regarded  as  incen 
diaries  for  uniting  in  1787,  "to  extend  the  blessings  of  freedom 

*  This  sentiment  is  held  and  avowed  by  the  much  calumniated  JVIr. 
Garrison. 


CHARGES   AGAINST   ABOLITIONISTS.  151 

to  every  part  of  our  race;"  or  for  refusing  to  permit  slave 
holders  to  participate  with  them  in  this  glorious  effort. 

It  was  not  sufficient  to  ridicule  Abolitionists  as  fanatics,  or  to 
stigmatize  them  as  incendiaries ;  they  must  be  branded  as  trai 
tors  and  nullifiers.  On  the  9th  October,  1833,  a  few  days  after 
a  mob  had  assembled  to  deprive  American  citizens  of  one  of 
their  dearest  constitutional  rights,  that  of  peaceably  expressing 
their  opinions,  a  numerous  Colonisation  meeting  was  convened 
in  New-York  for  the  purpose  of  taking  advantage  of  the  recent 
excitement,  to  raise  the  sum  of  $20,000.  Gentlemen  of  high 
rank  >and  influence  addressed  the  meeting.  Not  a  word  of 
disapprobation  of  the  late  outrage  escaped  them ;  on  the  con 
trary,  the -violence  offered  to  the  Abolitionists  seemed  to  be 
extenuated  if»not  justified,  by  the  grievous  charges  now  brought 
against  them. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  of  New-Jersey,  justly  distin- 
guisl^ed  'for  his  piety,  his  talents,  and  his  station  as  a  Senator  of 
the 'United  States,  addressed  the  meeting.  "  In  the  course  of 
his  address,"  says  the  N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  10th 
October,  "he  dwelt  with  emphasis  and  just  discrimination  upon 
the  proceedings  of  both  cis  and  /^arcs-Atlantic  Abolitionists, 
who  are  seeking  to  destroy  our  happy  Union." 

Chancellor  Walworth,  one  of  the  most  estimable  citizens, 
•and  the  highest  judicial  officer  of  the  State  of  New- York,  allu 
ding  to  the  emancipation  to  be  effected  by  Colonization,  remark 
ed,  "  the  emancipation,  however,  to  which  this  resolution  directs 
your  attention,  is  not  that  unconstitutional  and  dangerous 
emancipation  contemplated  by  a  few  visionary  enthusiasts,  and 
a  still  fewer  reckless  incendiaries  among  us,  which  cannot  be 
effected  without  violating  the  rights  of  property  secured  by  that 
constitution  which  we  have  sworn  to  support — that  emancipa 
tion  which  would  arm  one  part  of  the  Union  against  a?wtker, 
and  light  up  the  flame  of  civil  war  in  this  now  happy  land." 
N.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce. 

David  P.  Ogden,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  whose: legal  eminence, 
and  whose  purity  of  character  justly  give  to  his  opinions  pe 
culiar  weight,  need  the  following  language  :  "  I  avail  myself 
of  this  opportunity,  to  enter  my  solemn  protest  against  the 
attempts  which  are  making  by  a  few  FANATICS,  who,  without 
looking  to  the  fearful  consequences  involved  in  such  an  issue, 
are  advocating  the  immediate  emancipation  of  slaves,  in  the 
Southern  District.  As  citizens  of  the  United  States,  we  -have 


162  CHARGES    AGAINST    ABOLITIONISTS. 

no  right  to  interfere  with  the  claims  of  our  Southern  brethren 
to  the  property  of  their  slaves.  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  recognizes  their  right  to  it,  and  they  have  not  only  a 
sure  and  undeniable  right  to  that  property,  but  they  are  entitled 
to  the  full  protection  of  the  constituted  authorities,  in  enforcing 
the  enjoyment  of  it.  Let  us  not  talk  any  more  of  nullification  ; 
the  doctrine  of  immediate  emancipation  is  a  direct  and  pal 
pable  nullification  .of  that -constitution  ice  have  su'orn  .to  sup 
port}  '  Neiv-York .Journal  .of  Commerce. 

We>  might  have  .selected  many  similar  charges  from  other 
sources,  but  ,\v.e  have  taken  these  on  account  of  the  high  dia 
meter  of  the  accusers,  and  because  the  authors  are  all  of  the 
legal  profession,  and  of  course,  aware  .of  the  importance  of 
precision  in  all  charges  of  a  criminal  nature.  Not  one  of 
these  gentlemen  sitting  as  a  criminal  judge,  would  permit  the 
merest  vagabond  to  be  put  on  his  defence  on  a  vague  charge  of 
stealing,  but  .would  quash  any  indictment,  that  did  not  specify 
the  time, and, place  of  the  offence,  and  the  property  alleged  to 
be  stolen,;  yet  they  did  not  scruple  to  hold  up  their  fellow 
citizens  and  fellow  Christians  to  the  indignation  of  the  public, 
on  charges  destitute  of  all  specification,  and  unsupported  by  a 
particle  of  testimony. 

Abolitionists  are  here  accused  of  seeking  to  destroy  our 
happy  Union  ;  of  contemplating  a  violation  of  property,  secured 
by  the  Constitution  they  had  sworn  to  support;  of  pursuing 
measures  which  would  lead  to  a  civil  war;  and  of  being 
guilty  of  direct  and  palpable  nullification.  When — where — 
how — were  these  crimes  attempted  ?  What  proof  is  offered  ? 
Nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  is  offered  but, naked  assertion. 
Is  this  equitable  ?  Is  it  doing  to  others  as  tljese  gentlemen 
would  wish  others  to  do  to  them  ? 

But  it  is  not  enough  that  Abolitionists  should  be  denounced 
at  home  ;  they  must  also  be  defamed  abroad.  Mr.  Grurley, 
secretary  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  writes  a  letter 
(1833)  to  Henry  Ibbotson,  Esq.,  England  ;  and,  to  give  it 
greater  weight,  dates  it,  "  Office  of  the  Colonization  Society, 
Washington."  In  this  letter,  he  undertakes  to  enlighten  his 
foreign  correspondent  on  some  of  the  "fundamental  errors"  of 
-the  Abolitionists,  and  ranks  among  them  the  opinion,  "  that,  in 
jpresent  circumstances,  slavery  ought  to  be  abolished,  by  means 
not  acting  solely  through,  but,  in  a  great  degree  against,  and 
an  defiance  of  the  will  of  the  South."  .Not  a  tittle  of  evidence 


•CHARGES    AGAINST    ABOLITIONISTS.  153 

is  given,  that  such  an  opinion  is  held  by  a  single  individual  in 
the  United  States. 

Mr.  Jeremiah  Hubbard,  clerk  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of 
Friends  !  in  North-Carolina,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  England, 
(Af.  Rep.  X.  p.  37)  declares  that  "the  primary  object"  of  the 
Abolitionists  "appears  to  be,  that  of  producing  such  a  revolution 
in  public  sentiment  as  to  cause  the  national  legislation  to  bear 
directly  upon  the  slave-,holders,  and  to  compel  them  to  emanci 
pate  their  slaves." 

Now,  to  all  these  charges,  and  to  each  and  every  one  of 
them,  the  members  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  plead  NOT 
GUILTY,  and  desire  to  be  tried  by  God  and  their  country. 
But,  alas,  no  trial  is  vouchsafed  to  them  :  judgment  has  already 
been  given,  and  execution  awarded  against  them,  without  trial, 
and  without  evidence,  solely  on  the  finding  of  a  voluntary  and 
irresponsible  inquest.  All  they  can  now  do,  is  to  ask  for  a 
reversal  of  the  judgment  as  false  and  illegal,  cruel  and  op 
pressive. 

It  is,  of  course,  difficult  to  disprove  charges,  where  the  counts 
of  the  indictment  are  utterly  void  of  certainty,  and  where,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  none  but  negative  testimony  can  be 
offered  by  the  accused.  We  have  a  right  to  presume,  that  the 
treason  and  nullification  charged  on  Abolitionists,  have  refer 
ence  to  their  efforts  to  procure  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
United  States.  Now  slavery  exists  under  the  authority  of 
Congress,  and  also  under  the  authority  of  State  Legislatures. 
We  will  proceed  in  the  first  place  to  exhibit  some  facts  relative 
to  slavery  in  the  former  instance,  and  inquire  how  far  the 
conduct  of  Abolitionists  in  respect  to  it,  is  treasonable  and  un 
constitutional  ;  and  we  will  then  make  the  same  inquiry 
as  to  their  conduct  in  regard  to  slavery  in  the  several 
States. 


154      SLAVERY  BY  AUTHORITY  OF  CONGRESS- 

CHAPTER  V. 

SLAVERY  UNDER  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  CONGRESS. 

AT  the  last  census,  there  were  in  the  territories  of  Arkansas, 
Florida,  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  twenty-six  thousand  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  slaves.  We  will  confine  our  remarks 
at  present  to  slavery  as  it  is  exhibited  at  the  seat  of  the  federal 

§3vernment,  and  in  a  portion  of  territory,  over  which  the 
onstitution  of  the  United  States  has  given  to  Congress 
"  exclusive  jurisdiction."  In  this  District  often  miles  square^ 
there  are  six  thousand  slaves  ;  and  the  laws  under  which  they 
are  held  in  bondage,  are  among  the  most  cruel  and  wicked  of 
all  the  slave  laws  in  the  United  States,  This  District,  more 
over,  placed  as  it  is  under  the  immediate  and  absolute  control 
of  the  national  government,  is  the  great  slave  mart  of  the  North 
American  continent. 

In  1829,  Mr.  Miner,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  from  Pennsylvania,  introduced  a  resolution  for  the  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District.  In  his  speech  in  support 
of  this  resolution,  many  appalling  facts  were  disclosed.  It 
appeared,  that  in  the  last  five  years,  seven  hundred  and  forty- 
two  colored  persons  had  been  committed  to  the  public  prison 
of  the  city  of  Washington.  And  were  these  persons  accused 
or  convicted  of  crime?  NOT  ONE.  Four  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  were  lodged  in  the  UNITED  STATES  PRISON  by  slave 
traders,  for  safe  keeping  prior  to  exportation.  The  residue 
were  imprisoned  on  suspicion,  real  or  affected,  of  being  fugitive 
slaves.;  and  if  not  claimed  as  such,  were  by  authority  of  Con 
gress,  to  be  S.OLP  A-S  SLA.VES  FOR  LjFE,  to  raise  money  to 
pay  their  JAIL  FEES  !  ! ! 

Such  are  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  prison  in  the  Capital  of 
our  confederate  Republic  ;  and  let  it  be  recollected,  that  there 
are  other  prisons  besides  this  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Of  the  practical  operation  of  a  system  sanctioned  by  the  laws 
of  Congress,  take  the  following  sample : 

"Visiting  the  prison,"  says  Mr.  Miner,  "and  passing  through 
the  avenues  that  lead  to  the  cells,  I  was  struck  with  the  appear 
ance  of  a  woman,  having  three  or  four  children  with  her — one 
.at  the  breast.  She  presented  such  an  aspect  of  wo,  that  I 


SLAVERY    fiY    AUTHORITY    OF    CONGRESS.  ]  <5j 

could  not  help  inquiring  her  story.  It  was  simply  this  :  she 
was  a  slave,  but  had  married  a  man  who  was  free.  By  him 
«he  had  eight  or  nine  children.  Moved  by  natural  affection, 
the  father  labored  to  support  the  children ;  but  as  they  attain 
ed  an  age  to  be  valuable  in  the  MARKET,  perhaps  ten  ojf 
twelve,  the  master  sold  them.  One  after  another  was  taken 
away  and  sold  to  the  slave  dealers.  She  had  now  come  to  art 
age  to  be  no  longer  profitable  as  a  breeder;  and  her  master 
had  separated  her  from  her  husband,  and  all  the  associations 
of  life,  and  sent  her  and  her  children  to  YOUR  prison  for 
sale." 

The  law  of  the  District,  virtually  the  law  of  Congress,  by 
which  any  colored  person,  without  the  allegation  of  a  crime, 
may  be  seized  and  thrown  into  a  cell,  and  unless  he  can  there 
prove  his  freedom,  or  is  claimed  by  another,  is  sold  for  life  as 
a  slave  to  pay  his  jail  fees,  is  for  unblushing  injustice  and 
atrocity  utterly  unrivalled  by  any  enactment  of  the  despots  of 
the  old  world.  Mr.  Miner  states,  that  in  1826-7  no  less  than 
FIVE  persons  were  thus  sold  into  perpetual  bondage,  for  jail 
fees.  In  one  case,  the  UNITED  STATES  MARSHALL  lost  his 
fees.  Hear  Mr.  Miner.  "  In  August,  1821,  a  black  man  was 
taken  up  and  imprisoned  as  a  runaway.  He  was  kept  con 
fined  until  October,  1822 — four  hundred  and  five  days.  In 
this  time,  vermin,  disease,  and  misery  had  deprived  him  of 
the  use  of  his  limbs.  He  was  rendered  a  cripple  for  life,  and 
finally  discharged  as  no  one  would  buy  him.  Turned  out 
Upon  the  world  a  miserable  pauper,  disabled  by  OUR  means 
from  gaining  subsistence,  he  is  sometimes  supported  from  the 
poor  house,  sometimes  receives  alms  in  your  streets." 

Mr.  Miner  thus  speaks  of  the  AMERICAN  SLAVE  TRADE,  as 
carried  on  in  the  District. 

"  The  slave  trade,  as  it  exists  and  is  earned  on  here,  is 
marked  by  instances  of  injustice  and  cruelty  scarcely  exceeded 
on  the  coast  of  Africa.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  it  is  a  mere 
purchase  and  sale  of  acknowledged  slaves.  The  District  is  full 
of  complaints  on  the  subject,  and  the  evil  is  increasing.  So  long 
ago  as  1802,  the  extent  and  cruelty  of  the  traffic,  produced 
from  a  grand  jury,  at  Alexandria,  a  presentment  so  clear,  so 
strong,  and  so  feelingly  drawn,  that  I  shall  make  no  apology 
for  reading  it  to  the  House." 

Mr.  Miner  then  read  the  following : 


156  AMERICAN    SLAVE   TRADE. 

"January  Term,  1802. 

"  We  the  grand  jury,  for  the  body  of  the  county  of  Alex 
andria,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  present  as  a  grievance  the 
practice  of  persons  coming  from  distant  parts  of  the  United 
States  into  this  District,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  slaves,, 
where  they  exhibit,  to  our  view  a  scene  of  wretchedness  and 
human  degradation,  disgraceful  to  our  characters  as  citizens  of 
a  free  government.  True  it  is  that  these  dealers,  in  the  persons 
of  our  fellow  men,  collect  within  this  District  from  various  parts, 
numbers  of  those  victims  of  slavery,  and  lodge  them  in  some 
place  of  confinement  until  they  have  completed  their  numbers. 
They  are  then  turned  out  in  our  streets  and  exposed  to  view, 
loaded  with  chains  as  though  they  had  committed  some  heinous 
offence  against  our  laws.  We  consider  it  a  grievance  that  citi 
zens  from  distant  parts  of  the  United  States  should  be  permitted 
to  come  within  this  District,  and  pursue  a  traffic  fraught  with 
so  much  misery,  to  a  class  of  beings  entitled  to  our  protection 
by  the  laws  of  justice  and  humanity  ;  and  that  the  interposition 
of  civil  authority  cannot  be  had  to  prevent  parents  being  wrest 
ed  from  their  offspring,  and  children  from  their  parents,  with 
out  respect  to  the  ties  of  .nature.  We  consider  these  griev 
ances  demanding  legislative  redress" — that  is,  redress  by  Con 
gress. 

As  illustrative  of  the  horrors  and  iniquities  of  the  traffic,  Mr. 
Miner  informed  the  House  of  an  incident  that  had  occurred 
during  the  previous  Session  of  Congress.  A  free  colored  man 
had  maried  a  slave — with  the  avails  of  his  industry,  he  had,  in 
the  course  of  some  years,  purchased  the  freedom  of  his  wife 
and  children.  He  left  home  on  business,  and  on  his  return  found 
his  house  tenantless.  His  wife  and  children  were  missing.  It 
was  soon  ascertained  that  they  had  been  kidnapped  by  slave 
dealers,  and  confined  in  a  private  slave  prison,  in  Alexandria ; 
from  whence  they  had  afterwards  been  sent  to  a  distant  market 
and  were  forever  lost  to  the  husband  and  the  father. 

"  There  is  a  man  now  in  this  District,"  continued  Mr.  Miner, 
*'  who  was  in  the  hands  of  the  slave  dealers,  about  to  be  sent  off 
to  the  South,  when  he  laid  his  hand  on  a  block,  and  with  an  axe 
severed  it  from  his  arm.  Can  the  slave  trade,  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  be  more  horrible,  more  dreaded,  or  more  prolific  of 
scenes  of  misery  ?  To  me  all  this  is  dreadful,  and  I  think  it 
should  not  be  tolerated  here." 


AMERICAN    SLAVE    TRADE.  157 

In  1828,  a  petition  for  the  suppression  of  this  trade,  and  for 
the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  and  signed  by  more  than  ON« 
THOUSAND  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  District,  was  presented  to 
Congress.  From  this  document  we  extract  the  following. 

"  While  the  laws  of  the  United  States  denounce  the  foreign 
slave  trade  as  piracy,  and  punish  with  death  those  who  are 
found  engaged  in  its  perpetration,  there  exists  in  this  District,  the 
seat  of  the  national  government,  a  DOMESTIC  SLAVE  TRADE 
scarcely  less  disgraceful  in  its  character,  and  even  more  demo 
ralizing  in  its  influence. — These  people  are  without  their  con 
sent  torn  from  their  homes ;  husband  and  wife  are  frequently 
separated  and  sold  into  distant  parts— children  are  taken  from 
their  parents  without  regard  to  the  ties  of  nature,  and  the  most 
endearing  bonds  of  affection  are  broken  forever. 

"  Nor  is  this  traffic  confined  to  those  who  are  legally  slaves 
for  life.  Some  who  are  entitled  to  freedom,  and  many  who  have 
a  limited  time  to  serve,  are  sold  into  unconditional  slavery,  and 
owing  to  the  defectiveness  of  our  laws,  they  are  generally  car 
ried  out  of  the  district,  before  the  necessary  steps  can  be  taken 
for  their  release. 

"  We  behold  these  scenes  continually  taking  place  among 
us,  and  lament  our  inability  to  prevent  them.  The  people  of 
this  District,  have  within  themselves,  no  means  of  legislative 
redress,  and  we  therefore  appeal  to  your  honorable  body,  as 
the  ONLY  ONE  vested  by  the  American  Constitution  with 
power  to  relieve  us." 

We  will  now  exhibit  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  slave 
trade  under  the  PROTECTION  OF  CONGRESS  in  1834.  The  follow 
ing  advertisements  are  all  taken  from  the  same  sheet,  printed 
a  few  months  since  at  the  capital  of  the  American  Republic : 

"  CASH  FOR  Two  HUNDRED  NEGROES. 

We  will  give  cash  for  two  hundred  likely  young  negroes  of 
both  sexes,  families  included.  Persons  wishing  to  dispose  of 
their  slaves,  will  do  well  to  give  us  a  call,  as  we  will  give  higher 
prices  in  cash,  than  any  other  purchasers  who  are  now,  or  may 
hereafter  come  into  this  MARKET.  All  communications  will 
meet  attention.  We  can  at  all  times  be  found  at  our  residence 
on  Seventh-street,  immediately  south  of  the  Centre  Market- 
house,  Washington,  D.  C. 

September  13,  1834.  Joseph  W.  Neal  &  Co." 

14 


156  AMERICAN    SLAVE   TRADE. 

"CASH  FOR  FOUR  HUNDRED  NEGROES. 

Including  both  sexes,  from  twelve  to  twenty-five  years  of 
aggg.  Persons  having  likely  servants  to  dispose  of,  will  find  it 
to  their  interest  to  give  us  a  call,  as  we  will  give  higher  prices 
in  cash  than  any  other  purchaser,  who  is  now  or  may  hereaf 
ter  come  into  this  MARKET. 

Franklin,  Armfield  &  Co. 

Alexandria,  September  1st,  1834." 

"CASH  FOR  ONE  HUNDRED  NEGROES, 
Including  both  sexes,  from  twelve  to  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
Persons  having  likely  servants  to  dispose  of,  will  find  it  to  their 
interest  to  give  us  a  call,  as  we  will  give  higher  prices  in  cash 
than  any  other  purchaser  who  is  now  in  this  city. 

We  can  at  all  times  be  found  at  Isaac  Beer's  tavern,  a  few 
doors  below  Lloyd's  tavern,  opposite  Centre  Market,  Wash 
ington  city.  All  communications  promptly  attended  to. 

September  1st,  1834.  Birch  &  Jones." 

Thus  we  find  cash  offered  for  seven  hundred  slaves  at  one 
time,  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Does  any  one  inquire  how 
these  slaves  are  to  be  disposed  of?  We  call  his  attention  to  the 
following  advertisement  in  the  same  paper. 

ALEXANDRIA  AND  NEW-ORLEANS  PACKETS. 

Brig  TRIBUNE,  Captain  Smith,  and  Brig  UNCAS,  Captain 
Boush,  will  resume  their  regular  trips  on  the  20th  of  October: 
one  of  which  will  leave  this  port  every  thirty  days  throughout 
the  shipping  season.  They  are  vessels  of  the  first  class,  com 
manded  by  experienced  officers,  and  will  at  all  times  go  up  the 
Mississippi  by  steam,  and  every  exertion  used  to  promote  the 
interests  of  shippers  and  comfort  of  passengers.  Apply  to  the 
Captains  on  board,  or  to  Franklin  &  Armfield." 

Alexandria,  September  1st. 

Most  grievously  disappointed  and  astonished  would  any 
northern  gentleman  be,  who  had  taken  passage  in  one  of  these 
Alexandria  and  New-Orleans  packets,  on  finding  himself  on 
board  a  SLAVER. 

From  a  letter  of  the  23d  of  January,  1834,  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Leavitt,  and  published  in  New -York,  it  appears,  that  he  visited 
the  Slave-Factory  of  Franklin  &  Armfield  at  Alexandria, 
and  was  "  informed  by  one  of  the  Principals,  that  the  number 


AMERICAN  SLAVE  TRADE.  159 

of  slaves  carried  from  the  District  last  year,  was  about  one 
thousand,  but  it  would  be  much  greater  this  year.  He  expect 
ed  their  house  alone  would  ship  at  least  eleven  or  twelve 
hundred.  They  have  two  vessels  of  their  own,  constantly 
employed  in  carrying  slaves  to  New-Orleans."  One  of  the 
vessels  being  in  port,  Mr.  Leavittwent  onboard  of  her.  "Her 
name  is  the  TRIBUNE.  The  Captain  very  obligingly  took  us 
to  all  parts  of  the  vessel.  The  hold  is  appropriated  to  the  slaves, 
and  is  divided  into  two  apartments.  The  after  hold  will  carry 
about  eighty  women,  and  the  other  about  one  hundred  men. 
On  either  side  were  two  platforms  running  the  whole  length  ; 
one  raised  a  few  inches,  and  the  other  half  way  up  to  the  deck. 
They  were  about  five  or  six  feet  deep.  On  these  the  slaves 
lie,  as  close  as  they  can  stow  away." 

In  1831,  the  Brig  Comet,  a  slaver,  belonging  to  this  very 
house,  and  which  had  sailed  from  Alexandria  with  a  cargo  of 
•one  hundred  and  sixty  slaves,  was  wrecked  on  Abaco,  one  of 
the  Bahamas. 

But  this  vile  commerce  is  carried  on  by  land,  as  well  as  by 
water.  Slave-coffles  are  formed  at  the  prisons  in  the  District, 
and  thence  set  off  on  their  dreary  journey  into  the  interior, 
literally  in  chains.  A  gentleman  thus  describes  a  coffle  he 
met  on  the  road  in  Kentucky.  "  I  discovered  about  forty  black 
men  all  chained  together  in  the  following  manner  : — each  ol 
them  was  hand-cuffed,  and  they  were  arranged  in  rank  and 
file.  A  chain,  perhaps  forty  feet  long,  was  stretched  between 
the  two  ranks,  to  which  short  chains  were  joined,  which  con 
nected  with  the  hand-cuffs.  Behind  them  were,  I  suppose, 
thirty  women  in  double  rank  ;  the  couples  tied  hand  to  hand" 
These  coffles  pass  the  very  capitol  in  which  are  assembled 
the  Legislators  by  whom  they  are  authorized,  and  over  whose 
heads  is  floating  the  broad  banner  of  the  Republic,  too  justly, 
alas !  in  such  instances,  described  by  an  English  satirist  as 

"The  fustian  flag  that  proudly  waves, 
In  splendid  mockery  o'er  aland  of  slaves." 

But  the  tale  of  iniquity  and  infamy  is  not  yet  ended.  In  the 
capital  of  our  confederated  Republic,  and  with  the  sanction  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America,  MEN  ARE  LI 
CENSED  FOR  FOUR  HUNDRED  DOLLARS  TO  DEAL  IN  HUMAN 
FLESH  !  ! 


160  CONSTITUTIONAL    POWER    OF    CONGRESS. 

And  now  we  ask,  ought  these  things  so  to  be?  If  not  who 
can  remedy  them  ?  There  is  no  power  on  earth  but  Congress. 
No  State  Legislature  can  interfere  with  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  or  suppress  the  accursed  traffic  of  which  it  is  the  seat. 
But  who  shall  rouse  Congress  to  action?  Do  we  wait  for 'the  in 
terposition  of  slave  holders  ?  It  is  they  who  foster  and  encour 
age  the  trade.  Do  we  appeal  to  the  benevolence  of  the  Colo 
nization  Society?  Alas,  all  their  sympathy  is  expended  on  the 
victims  of  the  African  commerce;  their  Constitution  authorizes 
no  interference  with  the  A  me  rican  traffic.  We  have  seen  how 
far  their  first  President  himself,  embarked  in  this  trade.  No 
less  than  four  Vice  Presidents  of  the  Society  are  at  this  mo 
ment,  February  1835,  members  of  Congress,  and  three  of  them 
Senators  ;  but  not  a  word  has  fallen  from  their  lips,  relative  to 
slavery,  or  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  We 
are  wrong — one  of  them  has  spoken. 

MR.  CHARLES  FENTON  MERCER,  one  of  the  most  devoted 
officers  of  the  Society,  during  the  present  session  of  Congress 
voted  to  lay  on  the  table,  a  petition  presented  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District, 
thus  endeavoring  to  stifle  all  inquiry  into  those  outrages  upon 
human  rights,  and  human  happiness,  which  are  perpetrated 
under  the  authority  of  the  national  Legislature.  Yet  this  very 
gentleman  has  distinguished  himself,  by  his  zeal  against  the 
African  slave  trade. 

The  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  avows  its  intention  to 
endeavor  to  influence  Congress  to  refuse  any  longer  to  author 
ize  these  abominations.  And  is  it  for  this  avowal,  that  its 
members  are  branded  as  traitors  and  nullifiers  ?  If  so,  then 
they  appeal  for  their  justification,  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

By  the  8th  Section  of  the  1st  Article  of  that  instrument  Con 
gress  is  authorized  to  "  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all 
cases  whatsoever"  over  the  District  of  Columbia;  and  by  the 
first  article  of  the  amendments,  Congress  is  restrained  from 
making  any  law  "  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  the 
press,  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to 
petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of  grievances."  Hence 
Abolitionists  have  believed,  that  Congress  possess  the  right  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  that  they  them 
selves  are  authorized  to  petition  that  it  may  be  abolished.  Such 


CONSTITUTIONAL    POWER    OF    CONGRESS.  161 

&  belief  may,  perhaps  indicate  a  "  wild  fanaticism  ;"  it  seems, 
however,  to  be  a  fanaticism  shared  by  the  Legislatures  of 
Pennsylvania  and  New- York,  and  even  by  the  House  of  Re 
presentatives. 

In  1828,  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  by  an  almost  unani 
mous  vote,  "  RESOLVED,  that  the  Senators  of  this  State,  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  are  hereby  requested  to  procure  if 
practicable,  the  passage  of  a  law  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  in  such  a  manner  as  they  may  consider  con 
sistent  with  the  rights  of  individuals,  and  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States." 

On  the  9th  January,  1829,  the  House  of  Representatives 
"  RESOLVED,  that  the  Committee  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
be  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expediency,  (not  the  right)  of 
providing  by  law  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District,  ia  such  manner  that  no  individual  shall  be  injured 
thereby.'* 

On  the  28th  January,  1 829,  a  Committee  of  the  New- York 
Assembly  reported  to  the  House  : 

"  Your  Committee  cannot  but  view  with  astonishment  that 
in  the  Capital  of  this  free  and  enlightened  country,  laws  should 
exist,  by  which  the  free  CITIZENS  of  a  State  are  liable,  without 
trial,  and  even  without  the  imputation  of  a  crime,  to  be  seized 
while  prosecuting  their  lawful  business,  immured  in  prison, 
and  though  free,  unless  claimed  as  a  slave,  to  be  sold  as  such 
for  the  payment  of /AIL  FEES."  The  Committee  recommended 
the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  : 

"  RESOLVED,  (if  the  Senate  concur  herein)  that  the  Senators 
of  this  State,  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  be  and  are 
hereby  instructed,  and  the  Representatives  of  this  State  are 
requested  to  make  every  possible  exertion,  to  effect  the  passage 
of  a  law  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum 
bia." 

And  now  again  do  we  ask,  are  Abolitionists  fanatics  and  in 
cendiaries,  and  nullifiers,  and  traitors,  and  all  that  is  foolish, 
and  all  that  is  wicked,  because  they  wish  Congress  to  suppress 
slavery,  and  the  slave  trade,  in  the  District  of  Columbia?  It 
cannot  be,  that  Messrs.  Frelinghuysen,  Walworth,  Ogden,  and 
other  upright  and  intelligent  Colonizationists  have  founded 
their  grievous  charges  against  Abolitionists  on  this  ground. 
Let  us  then  see  how  far  Abolitionists  have  merited  these  char* 

H* 


162  VINDICATION    OF   ABOLITIONISTS. 

ges,  for  their  endeavors  to  abolish  slavery  existing  under  the 
authority  of  the  several  States. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


SLAVERY    UNDEH    STATE    AUTHORITY. 

WE  have  seen,  that  the  charges  against  the  Abolitionists 
are  vague,  and  without  specifications.  Friend  Hubbard  and 
Mr.  Gurley,  however,  give  their  accusations  something  of  a 
tangible  shape.  The  one  asserts,  that  Abolitionists  are  labor 
ing  to  abolish  slavery,  by  causing  the  national  legislation  10 
bear  directly  on  the  slave  holders,  and  compel  them  to  emanci 
pate  their  slaves  :  the  other  insists  that  it  is  one  of  their  funda 
mental  principles,  that  slavery  is  to  be  abolished  in  a  great 
degree  against  and  in  defiance  of  the  will  of  the  South.  The 
obvious  and  only  meaning  of  theso  assertions  is,  that  it  is  the 
wish  and  object  of  the  Abolitionists  to  induce  Congress  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  States.  One  xvould  think  that  this 
charge,  if  true,  might  be  easily  proved  :  some  petition,  some 
recommendation  might  be  quoted;  but  so  far  from  having  ever 
seen  any  proof  of  this  charge,  we  have  never  seen  even  an  at 
tempt  to  prove  it. 

Perhaps  the  testimony  on  this  point  of  a  Vice-President  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society,  and  one  who  is  equally 
distinguished  by  his  moral  worth,  and  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
Colonization,  will  be  listened  to  with  respect  by  many  of  his 
brethren.  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq.,  of  New- York,  in  a  speech  at 
the  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Society,  20th  January,  1834, 
speaking  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  remarked  :  "  I  believe 
that  Society  to  be  as  honest  as  our  own — as  benevolent  and 
patriotic  as  our  own.  Its  members  love  their  fellow  men,  and 
love  their  country,  and  love  the  union  of  the  States,  as  sincere 
ly  and  as  strongly  as  we  do  ;  and  much  as  is  said  to  the  con 
trary  on  this  point,  I  have  never  seen  a  particle  of  evidence, 
that  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  meditates  any  interference  with 
the  provisions  of  the  laws  of  the  slave  States  on  the  subject  of 
slavery.  It  alleges,  and  I  have  no  doubt  sincerely,  that  it  is 
by  moral  influence  alone,  and  mainly  by  the  changes  wrought 


VINDICATION   OF   ABOLITIONISTS.  163 

by  the  application  of  truth  to  the  conscience,  that  it  seeks  to 
compass  its  object." 

It  seems  Mr.  Smith  has  never  seen  a  particle  of  evidence  in 
support  of  the  charge,  that  Abolitionists  meditate  interference 
with  the  laws  of  the  slave  States.  They  who  make  the 
charge,  offer  not  a  particle  of  evidence  in  its  behalf.  We  will 
now  offer  a  MASS  of  evidence  in  proof  of  its  utter  falsity. 

Our  first  witness  is  one  whose  competency  and  credibility 
will  not  be  questioned  ;  and  who,  like  Mr.  Smith,  is  a  Vice- 
President  of  the  Colonization  Society.  The  following  is 
extracted  from  a  letter  to  John  Bolton,  Esq.  of  Savannah,  writ 
ten  for  publication,  by  the  Hon.  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  and  dated 
17th  May,  1833  : 

"  In  my  opinion,  the  domestic  slavery  of  the  Southern  States 
is  a  subject  within  the  exclusive  control  of  the  States  them 
selves  ;  and  this,  I  am  sure,  is  the  opinion  of  the  whole  North. 
Congress  has  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the  emancipation  of 
slaves,  or  in  the  treatment  of  them  in  any  of  the  States.  This 
was  so  resolved  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  1790,  on 
the  report  of  a  committee  consisting  almost  entirely  of  Northern 
members  ;  and  I  do  not  know  an  instance  of  the  expression  of 
a  different  opinion  in  either  House  of  Congress  since.  I  can 
not  say  that  particular  individuals  might  not  possibly  be  found, 
who  suppose  that  Congress  may  possess  some  power  over  the 
subject,  but  I  do  not  know  any  such  persons,  and  if  there  be 
any,  I  am  sure  they  are  very  few.  The  servitude  of  so  great 
a  portion  of  the  population  of  the  South,  is  undoubtedly  re 
garded  at  the  North  as  a  great  evil,  moral  and  political,  and 
the  discussions  upon  it,  which  have  recently  taken  place  in 
the  Legislatures  of  several  of  the  slave-holding  States,  have 
been  read  with  very  deep  interest.  But  it  is  regarded,  never 
theless,  as  an  evil,  the  remedy  for  which  lies  with  those  Legis 
latures  themselves,  to  be  provided  and  applied,  according  to 
their  own  sense  of  policy  and  duty.  The  imputations  which 
you  say,  and  say  truly,  are  constantly  made  against  the  North, 
are,  in  my  opinion,  entirely  destitute  of  any  just  foundation" 

Thus  we  find  that  Mr.  Webster,  living  in  Boston,  the  seat 
of  the  New-England  Anti-Slavery  Society,  a  fellow  townsman 
of  Garrison's,  and  surrounded  by  Abolitionists,  knows  nothing 
of  the  nullifiers  denounced  by  Mr.  Ogden — nothing  of  the  men 
who  Mr.  Gurley  says  are  for  freeing  the  slaves  in  defiance  of 


164  VINDICATION   OF   ABOLITIONISTS. 

the  will  of  the  South — nothing  of  those  who  the  North-Carolina 
quaker  tells  us,  are  for  bringing  the  "  National  Legislation"  to 
bear  upon  emancipation. 

Arid  has  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  a  sworn  sentinel  on  the 
ramparts  of  the  Constitution,  been  sleeping  at  his  post ;  and 
is  it  to  more  faithful  and  more  intelligent  watchmen,  that  we 
owe  the  discovery  of  the  meditated  treason  ? 

Mr.  Webster's  letter  contains,  as  far  as  it  goes,  THE  POLITI 
CAL  CREED  OF  THE  ABOLITIONISTS,  and  we  may  challenge  the 
whole  Colonization  Society  to  name  a  single  Abolitionist,  who 
does  not  most  heartily  assent  to  its  doctrines.  The  New- York 
Emancipator  transferred  the  letter  to  its  columns,  remarking 
"  Mr.  Webster's  opinion  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
States  of  this  Union  ;  so  far  as  expressed,  is  just  the  same  as 
has  been  more  than  once  avowed  in  every  Anti-slavery  paper 
in  the  country — that  it  is  a  subject  within  the  exclusive  control 
of  the  States  themselves." — Emancipator,  6th  July,  1833. 

Not  only  has  Mr.  Garrison  declared  his  readiness  to  sign 
his  name  to  every  sentiment  expressed  in  Mr.  Webster's  let 
ter,  but  he  has  used  in  the  Liberator,  the  following  language, 
"  Abolitionists  as  clearly  understand,  and  as  sacredly  .regard 
the  constitutional  powers  of  Congress,  as  do  their  traducers  ; 
and  they  know  and  have  again  and  again  asserted,  that  Con 
gress  has  no  more  rightful  authority  to  sit  in  judgment  upoit, 
Southern  slavery,  than  it  has  to  legislate  for  the  Abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  French  colonies" 

We  will  now  select  a  few  from  the  many  official  declarations 
of  Abolitionists  on  this  subject. 

"  The  national  compact  was  so  framed  as  to  guaranty  the 
legal  possession  of  slaves;  and  physical  interference  would  bea 
violation  of  Christian  principles."  I.  Rep.  of  New-Engla?id 
Anti-Slavery  Society — p.  21. 

"  We  do  not  aim  at  any  interference  with  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  slave-holding  States ;  for  Congress,  as  is  well 
understood,  has  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  several 
States." — Address  of  the  New-York  city  Anti-Slavery  Society 
— p.  5, 

"  We  freely  and  unanimously  recognize  the  sovereignty  of 
each  State  to  legislate  exclusively  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
which  is  tolerated  within  its  limits  ;  we  consider  that  Congress 
has  no  right  to  interfere  with  any  of  the  slave  States  in  relation 


VINDICATION   OF   ABOLITIONISTS.  165 

to  this  subject." — Declaration  of  Anti-Slavery  Convention  at 
Philadelphia,  4th  December,  1833. 

"  While  it  admits  that  each  State  in  which  slavery  exists, 
has  rby  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  exclusive  right  to 
legislate  hi  regard  to  its  Abolition,  it  shall  aim  to  convince  all 
our  fellow  citizens  by  arguments  addressed  to  their  understand 
ings  and  consciences,  that  slave-holding  is  a  henious  sin  in 
the  sight  of  God." — Constitution  of  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society. 

In  December  1833,  the  managers  of  the  New- York  city 
An'.i-Slavery  Society  printed  and  circulated  a  petition  to  Con 
gress,  for  the  Abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
It  commenced  as  follows  : 

To    THE    HON.,    THE    HOUSE    OF    REPKESENTATIVES. 

"  Your  petitioners,  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  New- York,  beg 
leave  to  represent  to  your  Honorable  body,  that  whatever  views 
they  may  entertain  of  the  evils  of  slavery  as  it  exists  in  certain 
States  of  the  Federal  Union,  they  are  fully  aware  that  these 
evils  are  beyond  the  Constitutional  control  of  the  federal 
government ;  and  so  far  from  soliciting  your  interposition  for 
their  removal,  they  would  deprecate  the  interference  of  Con 
gress  on  this  subject,  as  a  violation  of  the  national  compact" 
The  petition  then  proceeds  to  assert  the  Constitutional  power 
of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  district,  and  asks  for  its 
exercise. 

And  now  we  ask,  is  there  any  thing  in  the  extracts  we  have 
given,  to  justify,  excuse,  or  palliate  the  heavy  accusations  made 
against  Abolitionists  ?  Surely  it  must  now  be  conceded  that 
however  unconstitutional  may  be  the  emancipation  contempla 
ted  by  Abolitionists,  it  is  not  to  be  effected  by  Congress.  We 
lament  that  Chancellor  Walworth  did  not  condescend  to  ex 
plain  how  and  why  it  was  unconstitutional.  He  is  accustomed 
to  assign  reasons  for  his  decisions,  and  it  may  fairly  be  doubted 
whether,  in  withholding  the  reasons  for  the  judgment  he  has 
pronounced  against  Abolitionists,  he  has  administered  equity. 
He  has  adjudged  that  the  emancipation  contemplated  by  Abo 
litionists  would  "  violate  the  rights  of  property,"  but  in  what 
way  does  not  appear.  As  physical  force  is  disclaimed,  and 
congressional  interference  deprecated,  the  alleged  violation  of 
property  must  arise  from  the  appeals  made  to  the  holders  to 


166  VINDICATION    OF    ABOLITIONISTS. 

surrender  it.  But  surely  the  President  of  the  New- York 
Tempenance  Society  does  not  regard  property  in  human  flesh 
and  blood  so  much  more  sacred  than  property  in  rum,  that 
while  he  is  laboring  to  induce  the  owners  of  the  latter,  through 
out  the  United  States,  to  part  with  their  property,  he  looks 
upon  every  man  who  tells  his  fellow-citizens  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  manumit  their  slaves,  as  violating  the  rights  of  proper 
ty  !  The  venders  of  ardent  spirits  in  New-Orleans  and  else 
where,  have  as  valid  and  constitutional  a  title  to  their  liquors 
as  they  have  to  their  slaves.  Now  hear  what  Mr.  Freling- 
huysen  says  of  a  traffic  expressly  sanctioned  by  the  laws  of 
every  State  in  the  Union.  "  It  is  mere  tampering  with 
temptation  to  come  short  of  positive,  decided,  and  uncomprom 
ising  opposition.  We  must  not  only  resist,  we  must  drive  it. 
To  stand  on  the  defensive  merely,  is  to  aid  in  its  triumph." 
7th  Rep.  Am.  Temp.  Soc.  p.  51.  Yet  they  who  by  arguments, 
are  resisting,  or  driving  the  traffic  in  the  souls  and  bodies  of 
men,  are  accused  of"  seeking  to  destroy  our  happy  union  !" 

The  State  Legislatures  have  as  much  right  to  authorize  lot 
teries,  as  they  have  to  authorize  slavery,  yet  the  Pennsylvania 
Society  for  abolishing  lotteries,  is  established  for  the  avowed  pur 
pose  of  abolishing  by  moral  influence,  lotteries  in  overstates,  for 
there  are  none  in  its  own.  No  objection  is  made  to  the  consti 
tutionality  of  that  Society,  yet  epithets  seem  to  be  wanting  to 
express  the  abhorrence  felt  for  those  who  are  aiming  by  the 
same  means  to  rescue  millions  from  a  bondage  destructive  to 
their  happiness  in  this  world,  and  in  that  which  is  to  come  ! 

In  the  remarks  we  have  made  on  the  language  used  by 
Chancellor  Wai  worth  and  his  two  associates,  no  unkind  feelings 
have  mingled.  Not  a  suspicion  of  the  goodness  of  their  mo 
tives  has  crossed  our  mind  ;  we  admire  them  for  their  talents, 
and  esteem  them  for  their  virtues ;  and  sincerely  do  we  regret, 
that  men  who  possess  the  power  of  doing  so  much  good,  should 
ever,  through  want  of  information,  so  grievously  misapply  it. 

And  now  it  may  be  asked,  if  Abolitionists  intend  to  use  only 
moral  means,  what  good  can  they  effect  by  using  those  means 
at  the  North,  where  slavery  does  not  exist?  But  although 
slavery  does  not  exist  at  the  North,  it  is  excused  and  justified 
at  the  North ;  and  Southern  Christians  are  countenanced  in 
keeping  their  fellow  men  in  bondage  and  in  ignorance,  by  their 
Northern  brethren.  We  have  already  seen  the  baneful  influ- 


INFLUENCE   AT    THE   NORTH.  167 

ence  of  the  Colonization  Society  on  the  treatment  of  the  free 
negroes  at  the  North ;  the  Black  Act  of  Connecticut  is  still  in 
force,  and  Judge  Daggett's  decision  remains  unreversed.  Slave 
ry  is  in  full  vigor  under  the  authority  of  Congress,  and  sanction 
ed  by  a  majority  consisting  of  Northern  members  ;  and  our 
whole  country  is  disgraced,  and  humanity  and  religion  outraged 
by  an  extensive  and  abominable  slave  trade,  conducted  under 
the  same  sanction.  If,  therefore,  it  could  be  foreseen,  that  no 
slave  in  any  of  the  States  would  ever  be  liberated,  through  the 
influence  of  Northern  Anti-Slavery  Societies,  there  would  still 
remain  great  and  glorious  objects  to  stimulate  their  zeal,  to  em 
ploy  all  their  energies,  and  abundantly  to  reward  all  their  la 
bors.  But  neither  their  labors  nor  rewards  will  be  confined  to  the 
North.  The  consciences  of  Southern  Christians,  so  long  lulled 
by  the  opiate  of  Colonization,  are  awakening  to  duty.  South 
ern  divines  are  beginning  to  acknowledge  the  sinfulness  of 
slavery,  and  recent  slave  holders  are  now  proclaiming  the  safe 
ty  and  duty  of  immediate  emancipation. 

While  Northern  Colonizationists  are  sounding  the  tocsin,  and 
girding  on  their  armour,  and  rushing  to  the  battle,  to  protect  the 
rig/ils  of  their  Southern  brethren,  those  very  brethren  are  be 
ginning  to  listen  to  the  friendly  admonitions  of  Abolitionists, 
and  are  inquiring  what  they  must  do  to  escape  the  mighty  pe 
rils  to  which  they  are  exposed.  On  the  19th  March,  a  conven 
tion  of  gentlemen  from  different  parts  of  Kentucky  assembled 
at  Danville,  and  amid  a  slave  population  of  1(55,000,  organized 
"  THE  KENTUCKY  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY  Auxiliary  to  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society  •  and  appointed  a  delegate  to 
attend  the  anniversary  of  the  parent  Institution  at  New-York! 

While  the  professors  of  many  of  our  Northern  Colleges  are 
laboring  with  trembling  sol. citude,  to  stifle  all  discussion  respect 
ing  slavery  among  the'r  pupils,  JAMES  M.  BUCHANAN,  a  pro 
fessor  of  Centre  College,  has  had  the  moral  courage  to  accept 
the  station  of  president  of  the  Kentucky  Society.  Indeed, 
the  whole  nation  has  been  roused  from  its  lethargy,  and 
in  almost  every  circle  and  neighborhood,  the  subject  of  Aboli 
tion  is  attracting  attention ;  the  violence  and  persecution  expe 
rienced  by  Abolitionists,  instead  of  suppressing,  has  promoted 
discussion  ;  and  they  have  reason  to  hope,  that  slavery  will  ul 
timately  be  abolished,  by  the  voluntary  action  of  the  South,  in 
compliance  with  the  dictates  of  policy  and  of  duty. 


168  EMANCIPATION   DEFINED. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

SAFETY   OF   IMMEDIATE    EMANCIPATION. 

ALTHOUGH  we  may  have  succeeded  in  proving  that  the  eman 
cipation  contemplated  by  Abolitionists,  is  not  "unconstitution 
al,"  yet  many  may  conscientiously  doubt  whether  it  would  be^ 
safe  and  wise. 

A  few  years  only  have  elapsed,  since  the  use  of  ardent  spi 
rits  was  universally  countenanced  by  all  classes  of  the  com 
munity  ;  and  when  the  few  who  contended  that  their  use  was 
sinful,  and  ought  to  be  immediately  abandoned,  were  deemed  no 
less  visionary  and  fanatical  than  those  are  now  who  hold  the 
same  doctrine  in  regard  to  slavery. 

The  whole  Colonization  Society,  with  scarcely  a  solitary 
exception,*  denounce  immediate  emancipation  as  dangerous,  or 
rather  as  utterly  ruinous,  to  the  whites.  Their  objections  were 
thus  briefly  summed  up  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawkes,  in  his  speech 
at  a  Colonization  meeting  in  New- York  : 

"  But  if  the  plan  of  Colonization  be  abandoned,  what  re 
mains?  Are  the  slaves  fitted  for  freedom?  No — and  if  they 
are  let  loose  at  once,  they  must  of  necessity,  to  procure  a  liv 
ing,  either  beg  or  steal,  or  destroy  and  displace  the  whites." — 
New-York  Com.  Adv.  IQth  Oct.  1833. 

Here  we  have  broad  unqualified  assertions,  without  a  particle 
of  proof.  We  find  it  taken  for  granted,  that  if  the  slaves  are 
at  once  restored  to  liberty,  they  must,  from  necessity,  beg  or 
steal,  or  destroy  and  displace  the  whites.  What  causes  will 
produce  this  necessity,  we  are  uninformed ;  why  it  will  be  im 
possible  for  liberated  slaves  to  work  for  wages,  is  unexplained. 
Slavery  is  property  in  human  beings.  Immediate  emancipation 
is  therefore  nothing  more  than  the  immediate  cessation  of  this 
property.  But  how  does  this  cessation  of  property  imply  that 
those  who  were  the  subjects  of  it  must  be  "  let  loose  ?"  Will 
they  not,  like  other  persons,  be  subject  to  the  control  of  law, 
and  responsible  for  their  conduct?  if  incapable  of  providing 
for  themselves,  may  they  not  like  children,  apprentices  and 

*  The  only  exception  known  to  the  writer,  is  G.  Smith,  Esq. 


WHAT  EMANCIPATION   IMPLIES.  169 

paupers,  be  compelled  to  labor  for  their  own  maintenance  ? 
Immediate  emancipation  does  not  necessarily  contemplate  any 
relaxation  of  the  restraints  of  government  or  morality ;  any 
admission  to  political  rights,  or  improper  exemption  from  com 
pulsory  labor.  What  then  does  such  emancipation  imply  ?  It 
implies,  that  black  men,  being  no  longer  property,  will  be  capa 
ble  of  entering  into  the  marriage  state,  and  of  exercising  the 
rights,  and  enjoying  the  blessings  of  the  conjugal  and  parental 
relations, — it  implies,  that  they  will  be  entitled  to  the  fruits  of 
their  honest  industry — to  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  the  land, 
and  to  the  privilege  of  securing  a  happy  immortality,  by  learn 
ing  and  obeying  the  will  of  their  Creator. 

Now,  it  is  almost  universally  supposed,  that  such  emancipa 
tion  would,  as  a  matter  of  course,  lead  to  insurrection,  robbery 
and  massacre.  Yet  this  opinion  will,  on  examination,  be  found 
utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  divine  economy,  the  principles 
of  human  nature,  and  the  testimony  of  experience. 

It  is  a  trite  remark,  that  nations  are  punished  and  rewarded 
in  this  world,  and  individuals  in  the  next ;  and  both  sacred  and 
profane  history  will  be  searched  in  vain  for  an  instance,  in  which 
the  Supreme  Ruler  has  permitted  a  nation  to  suffer  for  doing 
justice  and  loving  mercy.  To  believe  that  God  would  permit 
any  community  to  be  destroyed,  merely  because  it  had  ceased 
to  do  evil,  is  to  call  in  question  the  equity  of  his  government,  or 
the  power  of  his  providence.  Who  that  acknowledges  the  truth 
of  Revelation,  can  doubt,  that  if  slavery  be  sinful,  the  sooner 
we  part  with  it,  the  more  confidently  may  we  rely  on  the  divine 
favor  and  protection.  Infidelity  alone  will  seek  safety  in  human 
counsels,  when  opposed  to  the  divine  will. 

But  the  opinion  we  are  considering,  is  no  less  at  variance 
with  the  motives  and  passions  of  our  common  nature,  than  with 
the  dictates  of  Christian  faith. 

What  is  the  theory  on  which  this  opinion  rests?  Why,  that 
cruelty,  injustice  and  grievous  oppression,  render  men  quiet,  do 
cile,  and  inoffensive  subjects ;  and  that  if  delivered  from  this 
cruelty,  injustice,  and  oppression,  they  will  rob  and  murder  their 
deliverers ! 

This  theory  is  happily  unsupported  by  any  facts,  and  rests 
upon  the  simple  dogma,  that  the  slaves  are  not  yet  fitted  for 
freedom.  Now  we  would  ask,  what  is  meant  by  fitness  for 
freedom1?  Ought  a  man  to  be  a  slave,  unless  he  can  read,  write 

15 


170  INSTANCES    OF    EMANCIPATION. 

and  cipher  ?  Must  he  be  taught  accounts,  before  he  can  re 
ceive  wages?  Should  he  understand  law,  before  he  enjoys  its 
protection  ?  Must  he  be  instructed  in  morals,  before  he  reads 
his  Bible  ?  If  all  these  are  pre-requisites  for  freedom,  how  and 
when  are  they  to  be  acquired  in  slavery? 

If  one  century  of  bondage  has  not  produced  this  fitness,  how 
many  will  ?  Are  our  slaves  more  fit  now,  than  they  were  ten, 
twenty,  fifty  years  ago?  Let  the  history  of  slave  legislation 
answer  the  inquiry.  When  the  British  government  insisted  that 
female  slaves  should  no  longer  be  flogged  naked  in  the  colonies, 
the  Jamaica  legislature  replied,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
lay  aside  the  practice  "  UNTIL  the  negro  women  have  acquired 
more  of  the  sense  of  shame,  which  distinguishes  European  fe 
males."  Slaves,  while  such,  will  become  fit  for  freedom  as  soon 
but  not  sooner,  than  negro  women  will  become  modest  in  con 
sequence  of  the  West-Indian  mode  of  correction.  No  postpone 
ment  of  emancipation,  will  increase  the  fitness  of  slaves  for 
freedom,  and  to  wait  for  this  fitness,  resembles  the  conduct  of 
the  simpleton  who  loitered  by  the  brook,  expecting  to  pass  dry 
shod,  after  the  water  had  run  off. 

The  conclusion  to  which  religion  and  common  sense  would 
lead  us  on  this  subject,  is  most  abundantly  confirmed  by  experi 
ence.  Passing  by  the  emancipation  of  the  Serfs  of  Europe, 
let  us  advert  to  various  instances  of  the  sudden  abolition  of  negro 
slavery,  and  let  us  see  how  far  the  theory  we  are  considering  is 
supported  by  facts. 

On  the  10th  October,  1811,  the  Congress  of  Chili,  decreed 
that  every  child  born  after  that  day,  should  be  free. 

On  the  9th  April,  1812,  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres, 
ordered  that  every  child  born  after  1st  January,  1813,  should 
be  free, 

On  the  19th  July,  1821,  the  Congress  of  Colombia  passed  an 
Act,  emancipating  all  slaves,  who  had  borne  arms  in  favor  of 
the  Republic,  and  providing  for  the  emancipation  in  eighteen 
years,  of  the  whole  slave  population  of  280,000. 

On  the  15th  September,  1821,  the  government  of  Mexico 
granted  instantaneous  and  unconditional  emancipation  to  every 
Save. 

On  the  4th  July,  1827,  ten  thousand  slaves  were  emancipa 
ted  in  the  State  of  New- York  by  act  of  the  legislature. 

In  all  these  various  instances,  not  one  case  of  insurrection 


EMANCIPATION   TN    ST.    DOMINGO.  171 

or  of  bloodshed  is  known  to  have  resulted  from  emancipation, 
But  St.  Domingo — ah,  what  recollections  are  awakened  by  that 
name  !  With  that  name  are  associated  the  most  irrefragable 
proofs  of  the  safety  and  wisdom  of  immediate  emancipation 
and  of  the  ability  of  the  African  race,  to  value,  defend  and  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  freedom.  The  apologists  of  slavery,  are  con 
stantly  reminding  Abolitionists  of  the  "SCENES  IN  ST.  DOMINGO." 
Were  the  public  familiar  with  the  origin  and  history  of  those 
scenes,  none  but  Abolitionists  would  dare  to  refer  to  them.  We 
will  endeavor  in  the  next  chapter  to  dispel  the  ignorance, 
which  so  extensively  prevails  relative  to  the  "scenes  in  St.  Do 
mingo,"  and  we  trust  our  efforts  will  furnish  new  confirmation 
of  the  great  truth,  that  the  path  of  duty  is  the  path  of  safety. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

/ 

EMANCIPATION    IN   ST.    DOMINGO    AND    GUADALOUPE,    AND   PRESENT 
STATE    OF   ST.    DOMINGO. 

IN  1790,  the  population  of  the  French  part  of  St.  Domingo 
was  estimated  at  086,000.  Of  this  number,  42,000  were  white, 
44,000  free  people  of  color,  and  600,000  slaves.  At  the  com 
mencement  of  the  French  revolution  the  free  colored  people 
petitioned  the  National  Assembly,  to  be  admitted  to  political 
rights,  and  sent  a  deputation  to  Paris  to  attend  to  their  interests. 
On  the  8th  March,  1790,  a  law  was  passed,  granting  to  the 
colonies  the  right  of  holding  representative  assemblies,  and  of 
exercising  to  a  certain  extent,  legislative  authority.  On  the 
28th  of  the  same  month,  another  law  was  passed,  declaring  that 
"  all  free  persons  in  the  colonies,  who  were  proprietors,  and 
residents  of  two  years  standing,  and  who  contribute  to  the  exi 
gencies  of  the  State,  shall  exercise  the  right  of  voting." 

The  planters  insisted  that  this  law  did  not  apply  to  free  color 
ed  persons.  They  proceeded  to  elect  a  general  assembly,  and 
in  this  election  the  free  blacks  were,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
prevented  from  voting.  The  newly  elected  assembly  issued  a 
manifesto,  declaring  they  would  rather  die,  than  divide  their 
political  rights  with  "a  bastard  and  degenerated  race."  A  por 
tion  of  the  free  colored  people  resolved  to  maintain  the  rights 


172  EMANCIPATION    IN   ST.    DOMINGO. 

given  them  by  the  mother  country,  and  assembled  in  arms  under 
one  of  their  own  number  named  Oge.  A  letter  addressed  by  this 
chief  to  the  St.  Domingo  assembly,  is  fortunately  extant,  and 
explains  the  true  origin  of  those  awful  calamities,  which  it  is 
-found  expedient  to  ascribe  to  the  Abolition  of  slavery. 

-  SIRS, 

"  A  prejudice  for  a  long  time  upheld,  is  at  last  about  to  fall. 
Charged  with  a  commission  honorable  to  myself,  I  call  upon 
you  to  proclaim  throughout  the  colony  the  decree  of  the  Na 
tional  Assembly  of  the  28th  March,  which  gives,  without  distinc 
tion,  to  every  free  citizen  the  right  of  being  admitted  to  all  du 
ties  and  functions  whatever.  My  pretensions  are  just,  and  I  do 
hope  you  will  regard  them.  /  shall  not  have  recourse  to  any 
raising  of  the  slave  gangs.  It  is  unnecessary  and  would  be 
unworthy  of  me.  I  wish  you  to  appreciate  duly,  the  purity  of 
tny  intentions.  When  I  solicited  of  the  National  Assembly* 
the  decree  I  obtained  in  favor  of  our  American  Colonists,  known 
under  the  hitherto  injurious  distinction  of  the  mixed  race,  /  never 
comprehended  in  my  claims  the  negroes  in  a  state  of  slavery. 
You  and  our  adversaries  have  mixed  this  with  my  proceedings 
to  destroy  my  estimation  in  the  minds  of  all  well  disposed  people : 
but  I  have  demanded  only  concessions  for  a  class  of  free  men, 
who  nave  endured  the  yoke  of  your  oppression  for  two  centu 
ries.  We  have  no  wish  but  for  the  execution  of  the  decree  of  the 
28th  March.  We  insist  on  its  promulgation  ;  and  we  cease 
not  to  repeat  to  our  friends,  that  our  adversaries  are  not  merely 
unjust  to  us,  but  to  themselves,  for  they  do  not  seem  to  know 
that  their  interests  are  one  with  ours.  Before  employing  the 
means  at  my  command,  I  will  see  what  good  temper  will  do; 
but  if  contrary  to  my  object,  you  refuse  what  is  asked,  I  will 
not  answer  for  those  disorders  which  may  arise  from  merited 
revenge." 

The  shout  of  battle  was  the  only  answer  returned  to  this  let 
ter.  The  free  blacks  were  defeated,  and  their  brave  leader 
being  taken  prisoner,  was,  with  a  barbarity  equalled  only  by 
its  folly,  broken  alive  on  the  wheel.  A  ferocious  struggle  now 
commenced  between  the  two  parties,  and  Oge's  death  was  aw 
fully  avenged.  On  the  15th  May,  1791,  the  French  Conven 
tion  issued  a  decree  declaring  explicitly,  that  "  free  colored  per- 

*  Oge  had  been  one  of  the  deputies  who  were  sent  to  Paris. 


EMANCIPATION   IN   ST.    DOMINGO.  173 

were  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  citizenship."  The  plan 
ters  however,  refused  to  submit  till  .after  2, 000  whites  and  10,000 
blacks  had  perished.  Tke  free  blacks  had  armed  their  own 
slaves  ;  and  many  of  the  slaves  belonging  to  the  whiles  taking 
advantage  of  the  .disturbed  state  of  the  island  revolted.  The 
general  assembly  at  length  became  alarmed,  and  on  the  20th 
September,  1 19 1,  issued  a  proclamation  announcing  their  acqui- 
escenee  in  ,the  .decree  of  the  1 5th  May,  admitting  the  free  blacks 
to  political  equality  with  the  whites.  This  proclamation  imme 
diately  restored  peace,  and  tfie  fr.ee,  blacks  even  assisted  tfie 
planters  in  reducing  to  obedience  their  revolted  slaves*  The 
peace,  however,  was  of  short  duration.  Intelligence  was  soon 
received  that  the  French  Convention  had  yielded  Jo  .the  clamors 
of  the  planters,  and  on  the  24th  September,  only  four  .days  aftex 
the  Assembly's  proclamation,  had  repealed  the  decree  .giving 
political  rights  to  the  free  bjacks.  The  irritation  caused  by  this 
measure  may  easily  be  imagined,  and  the  feelings  of  the  free 
blacks  were  exasperated  by  an  act  <of  sfolly  and  presumption  on 
the  part  of  the  Colonial  Assembly.  This  body  passed  an  order 
for  disarming  the  whole  free  colored  population.  Thai  popula 
tion,  however,  instead  of  surrendering  their  arms,  ^hallenged 
their  proud  oppressors  to  take  them,  and  immediately  .renewed 
the  war. 

On  the  4ih  Aprii,  1792,  tbe  -yaeillafciug  policy  of  the  Frencli 
government  led  it  once  more  to  pass  a  decree,,  investing  the  free 
negroes  in  the  Colonies  with  political  rights ;  and  three  Com 
missioners,  with  6,000  troops,  were  sent  to  St.  Domingo  to  en 
force  the  decree.  The  Commissioners  arrived  on  jhe  13th 
September,  and  assuneed  .the  government  of  the  island.  In  June, 
1793,  they  quarrelled  wrth  the  governor,  and  ,each  party  took 
arms.  The  Commissioners  called  to  their  aid  3,000  revolted 
slaves,  promising  pardon  for  the  past,  ,and  freedom  for  the  fu 
ture.  About  this  time  it  was  estimated  .that  no  less  than 
10,000  of  the  white  inhabitants  had  fled  from  the  island,  incon 
sequence  of  its  disturbed  state,  and  this,  be  it  remem'bered, 
before  a  single  slave  had  been  emancipated.  The  Commission 
ers  were  successful  in  .their  coniust  with  the  governor,  and  re 
tained  the  supreme  power  in  \their  own  .hands.  J3,ut  .a  new  dan 
ger  threatened  them.  The  planters  were  dissatisfied  with  the 
political  rights  conferred  on  the  blacks,  and  were  in  many  ii> 
.stances,  hostile  to  the  Republic  which  had  been  reared  on  tb$ 


174  EMANCIPATION   IN   ST.    DOMINGO. 

ruins  of  the  French  Monarchy.  They  therefore,  entered  into 
intrigues  with  the  British  Government,  inviting  it  to  take  pos 
session  of  the  island,  hoping  that  thus  the  old  order  of  things 
would  be  restored.  The  Commissioners  became  acquainted 
with  the  intentions  of  the  British  to  invade  the  island.  Their 
only  defensive  force  consisted  of  the  6,000  French  troops  and 
about  15,000  militia.  On  the  latter  they  were  sensible  but 
little  reliance  could  be  placed.  Under  these  circumstances, 
they  determined  to  emancipate  the  slaves,  in  order  that  the 
whole  colored  population  might  thus  be  induced  to  array  itself 
under  the  Republican  standard.  Bryant  Edwards,  a  well 
known  English  writer,  and  a  most  devoted  apologist  for  slavery 
in  his  history  of  this  affair,  after  stating  as  a  fact  within  his  own 
knowledge,  the  overtures  made  by  the  St.  Domingo  planters  to 
Great  Britain,  and  that  the  Commissioners  could  not  muster 
more  than  22.-000  effective  men,  adds,  "  These  being  necessari 
ly  dispersed  in  detachments  throughout  the  different  provinces, 
^became  on  that  accouut,  little  formidable 'to  an  invading  army. 
Aware  of  this  circumstance,  the  Commissioners,  on  the  first 
;intimation  of  an  attack  from  the  English,  resorted  to  the  despe 
rate  expedient  of  proclaiming  all  manner  of  slavery  abolished." 
The  proclamation  was  made  in  September,  1793,  and  on  the 
19th  of  the  same  month,  the  British  armament,  under  Colonel 
White,  arrived  at  Jeremie,  and  took  possession  of  the  town,  and 
afterwards  entered  Port  au  Prince.  Thus  we  find,  that  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  St.  Domingo  was  not,  as  is  generally 
supposed,  the  result  of  an  insurrection  by  the  slaves,  but  an  act  of 
political  expediency.  Let  us  now  see  what  were  the  conse 
quences  of  this  act.  The  whole  colored  population  remained 
loyal  to  the  Republican  cause.  The  British  were  masters  only 
of  the  soil  covered  by  their  troops,  and  at  length  wearied  out 
;by  the  inveterate  opposition  they  experienced,  they  abandoned 
all  hopes  of  conquest,  and  in  1798  evacuated  the  island.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  intercourse  between  the  colony  and 
the  mother  country  became  more  and  more  interrupted. 
The  seas  were  scoured  by  British  cruisers,  and  the  colonists 
were  left  by  France  to  govern  themselves.  The  whole  colo 
nial  administration  had  been  entirely  subverted,  the  Commission 
ers  had  returned  to  France,  and  it  became  necessary  to  adopt 
•some  political  system.  Under  these  circumstances,  Toussaint, 
a  black,  who  had  acquired  power  and  influence,  submitted,  in 


EMANCIPATION   IN    ST.    DOMINGO.  176 

1801,  to  a  general  assembly,  a  republican  constitution,  which 
was  adopted,  and  the  island  was  declared  to  be  an  independent 
State,  on  the  1st  July,  1801.  But  during  all  this  time,  what 
was  the  conduct  of  the  emancipated  slaves  ?  Before  we  an 
swer  this  question,  let  us  remind  the  reader  that  the  emancipa 
tion  was  not  only  immediate  but  unpremeditated.  No  measures 
had  been  taken  to  Jit  about  600,000  slaves  for  freedom,  but 
suddenly,  unexpectedly,  almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  they 
ceased  to  be  property,  and  were  invested  with  the  rights  of  hu 
man  nature.  And  was  the  theory  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawkes 
verified  in  St.  Domingo  ?  Did  the  manumitted  slaves  maintain 
themselves  by  begging  and  stealing,  or  did  they  destroy  and 
displace  the  whites'?  Let  an  eye-witness  answer  the  inquiry. 
Colonel  Malefant,  then  a  resident  on  the  island,  says  in  his  "jtfer 
moire  historique  et  polilique  des  colonies  et  particulierement^,e 
celle  de  St.  Domingue."  p.  58. 

"After  this  public  act  of  emancipation,  "the  negroes  remained 
quiet  both  in  the  south  and  in  the  west,  and  they  continued  to 
work  upon  all  the  plantations.  There  were  estates  indeed, 
which  had  neither  owners  nor  managers  resident  upon  them, 
for  some  of  them  had  been  put  in  prison  by  Montburn,  and 
others  fearing  the  same  fate  had  fled  to  the  quarter  which  had 
just  been  given  up  to  the  English.  Yet  upon  these  estates, 
though  abandoned,  the  negroes  continued  their  labors,  where 
there  were  any,  even  inferior  agents  to  guide  them;  and  on 
those  estates  where  no  white  men  were  left  to  direct  them,  they 
betook  themselves  to  planting  of  provisions :  but  upon  all  the 
plantations  where  the  whites  resided,  the  blacks  continued  to 
' Labor  quietly  as  before" 

In  another  place,  (p.  125,)  he  says : 

11  How  did  I  succeed  in  the  plain  of  the  Oul  de  Sac,  and  on 
'the  plantation  Gouraud,  more  than  eight  months  after  liberty 
had  been  granted  to  the  blacks  ?  Let  those  who  knew  me  at 
that  time,  and  even  the  blacks  themselves,  be  asked.  They 
will  reply  that  not  a  single  negro  upon  that  plantation,  consist 
ing  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  laborers,  refused  to  work,  arid  yet 
this  plantation  was  thought  to  be  under  the  worst  discipline,  and 
the  slaves  the  most  idle  o'f  any  in  the  plain.  I  myself  inspired 
the  same  activity  into  three  other  plantations  of  which  I  had 
the  management."  He  goes  on  to  assert  that  "  the  colony  was 
.flourishing  under  Toussaint — the  whites  lived  happily,  and  in 


176  EMANCIPATION   IN   ST.    DOMINGO. 

peace  upon  their  estates,  and  the  negroes  continued  to  work 
for  them"  Toussaint  came  into  power  under  the  French  au 
thority,  1 796,  and  remained  in  power  till  1 802,  or  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war  with  France.  Thus  it  appears  that  the 
manumitted  slaves  continued  quietly  at  work,  from  their  eman 
cipation  in  1793,  till  1802,  a  period  of  about  eight  years. 

This  was  not,  let  it  be  remembered,  a  season  of  peace. 
During  most  of  the  time  a  fierce  war  was  waged  against  the 
English  invaders.  In  this  war  a  portion  of  the  planters  took 
part  with  the  enemy,  and  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  blacks, 
those  cruelties  which  so  often  distinguish  a  civil  war.  But  on 
a  careful  and  scrupulous  examination  of  the  history  of  this  pe 
riod,  we  cannot  find,  that  from  the  date  of  the  emancipation  in 
1793,  to  the  French  invasion  in  1802,  a  single  white  man  was 
injured  by  the  liberated  slaves,  unless  he  had  previously  placed 
himself  in  the  attitude  of  a  political  enemy  by  siding  with  the 
British.  Immediately  on  the  evacuation  of  the  island  by  the 
British,  profound  tranquillity  prevailed,  and  the  planters  who  re 
mained,  and  the  emigrants  who  returned,  enjoyed  their  estates 
without  molestation. 

Malefant  is  not  the  only  witness  we  can  cite  to  these  facts. 
General  Lacroix,  who  published  his  "  Memoirs  for  a  history 
of  St.  Domingo,"  at  Paris,  in  1819,  speaking  of  the  colony 
in  1 797,  says,  "  It  marched  as  by  enchantment  towards  its 
ancient  splendor  :  cultivation  prospered  ;  every  day  produced 
perceptible  proofs  of  its  progress.  The  city  of  the  Cape, 
and  the  plantations  of  the  North,  rose  up  again  visibly  to  the 
eye."  p.  311. 

The  author  of  "the  History  of  St.  Domingo,"  printed  in  Lon 
don,  1818,  speaking  of  Towssaint,  says  : 

"  When  he  restored  many  of  the  planters  to  their  estates, 
there  was  no  restoration  of  their  former  property  in  human 
beings.  No  human  being  was  to  be  bought  or  sold.  Severe 
tasks,  flagellations,  and  scanty  food,  were  no  longer  to  be  en 
dured.  The  planters  were  obliged  to  employ  their  laborers  on 
the  footing  of  hired  servants  ;  and  the  negroes  were  required 
to  labor  for  their  own  livelihood.  The  amount  of -remuneration 
was  not  left  to  individual  generosity  or  private  agreement,  but 
it  was  fixed  by  law,  that  the  cultivators  should  have  for 
their  wages  a  third  part  of  the  crops.  While  this  ample  en 
couragement  was  afforded  for  the  excitement  of  industry,  pe- 


EMANCIPATION   IN    ST.    DOMI1VOO.  177 

nalties  were  at  the  same  time  denounced  for  the  punishment  of 
idleness. 

"  The  effects  of  these  regulations  were  visible  throughout  the 
country.  Obliged  to  work,  but  in  a  moderate  manner,  and  for 
handsome  wages,  and  at  liberty  for  the  most  part  to  choose  their 
own  masters,  the  plantation  negroes  were  in  general  contented, 
healthy  and  happy."* 

And  now  let  Abolitionists  be  reminded  of  the  "scenes  in 
St.  Domingo;"  yes,  let  those  scenes  be  constantly  kept  before 
the  public  as  an  awful  and  affecting  memento  of  the  justice 
due  to  the  free  blacks,  and  as  a  glorious  demonstration  of 
the  perfect  safety  of  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipa 
tion. 

Yet  men  who  believe  it  safe  to  do  immediate  justice,  and 
who  find  from  history  that  God  never  permits  a  nation  to 
suffer  for  obeying  his  commands,  are  held  up  to  the  derision 
and  detestation  of  the  community  as  fanatics  and  incendiaries. 
Let  us  see  what  new  proofs  of  their  fanaticism  are  afforded  by 
the  history  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Guadaloupe. 

On  the  20th  April,  1794,  a  British  armament,  under  Sir 
Charles  Grey,  took  the  French  island  of  Guadaloupe,  many  of 
the  planters,  as  in  St.  Domingo,  being  royalists  and  favoring 
the  cause  of  the  invaders. 

On  the  5th  June  following,  a  French  force,  under  Victor 
Hugo,  arrived  to  dispute  the  possession  of  the  island.  The 
Republican  general  immediately  proclaimed  the  freedom  of 
the  slaves,  in  pursuance  of  a  decree  of  the  National  Assembly 
of  the  preceding  February  ;  and  arming  the  negroes,  led  them 
against  the  enemy.  The  English  were  soon  confined  within 
narrow  quarters,  and  by  the  10th  December,  were  compelled 
to  evacuate  the  island.  From  this  time,  Guadaloupe  remained 
a  dependance  of  France  till  1810,  when  it  was  retaken  by  the 
English. 

On  the  abolition  of  slavery,  la  police  rurale,  was  substituted 
for  it.  The  slaves  were  converted  into  free  laborers,  and  were 
entitled  to  their  food,  and  one  fourth  of  the  produce  of  their 
labor.  They  were  85,000  in  number,  and  the  whites  only 

*  These  representations  are  confirmed  by  the  fact,  that  the  exports  from 
St.  Domingo  in  1801,  seven  years  after  emancipation,  were  of  sugar, 
18,535,132  Ibs.;  coffee,  43,420,270  Ibs.  ;  cotton,  2,480,340  Ibs.  McCulloMa 
.Diet,  of  Commerce,  p.  926. 


178  EMANCIPATION    IN    GTJADALOtTPE. 

13,000.  So  far  was  the  cultivation  of  the  island  from  being 
suspended  by  emancipation,  that  in  1801,  an  official  report 
stated  the  plantations  as  follows,  viz.  :  of  sugar,  390  ;  of  coffee, 
1355;  of  cotton,  328;  and  25  grass  farms.  The  peace  of 
Amiens  unhappily  afforded  Bonaparte  an  opportunity  to  re 
establish  slavery  in  Guadaloupe.  In  the  summer  of  1802, 
Richepanse  landed  on  the  island  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
French  force,  and  in  a  short  time  by  the  indiscriminate  mas 
sacre  of  all  who  opposed  his  purpose,  fulfilled  the  object  of 
his  mission  at  the  sacrifice,  it  is  said,  of  nearly  20,000  negro 
lives. 

Immediately  preceding  this  atrocious  act,  all  was  peace  and 
prosperity  ;  and  so  late  as  February,  1802,  the  supreme  council 
of  Guadaloupe,  in  an  official  document,  alluding  to  the  tran 
quillity  which  reigned  throughout  the  island,  observed  :  "  We 
shall  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  given  an  example,  which 
will  prove  that  all  classes  of  people  may  live  in  perfect  harmony 
with  each  other,  under  an  administration  which  secures  JUS 
TICE  TO  ALL  CLASSES." 

In  Guadaloupe,  we  see  an  instance  of  a  great  preponderating 
slave  population  suddenly  emancipated,  and  yet  peaceably  pur 
suing  their  labors  for  seven  years,  and  living  in  harmony  with 
the  white  proprietors. 

If  we  are  to  believe  Colonizationists,  the  negro  character  is 
to  be  exhibited  in  all  its  perfection  in  Liberia  ;  but  in  America, 
the  black  man  can  never  rise  from  his  present  degradation. 
Do  we  inquire  the  reason,  we  are  promptly  told,  that  no  equal 
ity  can  subsist  between  the  white  and  black  races,  and  that  the 
latter  to  be  great  and  happy  must  live  alone.  Strange  it  is, 
that  instead  of  referring  to  St.  Domingo  as  an  apt  illustration 
of  their  theory,  they  are  fond  of  citing  the  present  state  of  that 
island  as  a  warning  against  Abolition — as  a  proof  that  free 
negroes  are  too  indolent  to  work,  too  deficient  in  enterprise,  to 
attain  national  prosperity.  If  such  be  the  fact,  how  faithless 
must  be  their  predictions  of  the  future  glory  of  Liberia.  Let 
us  now  attend  to  the  gloomy  and  disheartening  account, 
which  the  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  New- 
York  Colonization  Society  gives  us  of  St.  Domingo  ;  an 
account  which,  if  true,  ought  to  induce  the  Society  to  abandon 
their  enterprise. 

"  Mora  than  thirty  years  have  elapsed  since  slavery  was 


PRESENT    STATE    OF   ST.    DOMINGO.  179 

abolished  in  St.  Domingo.  Through  scenes  of  unparalleled 
devastation  and  blood,  the  blacks  expelled  their  while  masters, 
and  have  ever  since  lived  under  a  government  of  their  own. 
But  from  the  day  of  their  emancipation  to  the  present,  the  pop 
ulation  for  the  most  part,  have  been  idle  and  worthless. 

"  St.  Domingo  was  the  garden  of  the  new  world — the  richest 
of  the  Indies.  But  its  villas  have  gone  to  ruin,  and  its  fields 
run  to  waste.  Thorns  and  briars  have  choked  their  gardens, 
and  the  plantations  have  been  barren  from  idleness.  The 
government  has  ever  been  despotic,  and  of  necessity ;  and  AT 
LAST  its  power  has  been  called  forth  for  the  regulation  of  labor 
— the  labor  of  freemen,  to  prevent  the  island  from  going  en 
tirely  to  ruin.  The  following  extract  from  a  late  Haytien 
enactment  is  in  point,  and  will  serve  as  a  practical  commentary 
upon  the  mad  schemes  of  our  well  meaning  but  deluded  philan 
thropists.  We  have  extracted  the  following  articles,  which 
render  the  condition  of  the  free  blacks  very  little  different 
from,  if  not  actually  worse  than  the  condition  of  the  slaves 
in  any  part  of  the  United  States."*  Com.  Advertiser,  24th 
September,  1834.  Then  follow  extracts  from  the  rural  code 
of  Hayti,  from  which  it  appears,  that  all  persons  without  land 
or  occupation  are  compelled  to  labor,  and  are  liable  to  imprison 
ment  for  idleness. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  philanthropists,  on  whose  mad 
schemes  this  code  is  supposed  to  be  a  commentary,  are  ad 
mitted  on  the  24th  September,  to  be  "  well  meaning,"  whereas, 
on  the  9th  June  preceding,  we  were  assured  by  this  same 

*  This  last  assertion  is  so  very  extraordinary,  that  we  are  constrained  to 
believe  Mr.  Stone  has  never  read  the  "enactment"  from  which  he  quotes. 
The  present  rural  code  of  Hayti  was  adopted  in  1826.  It  is  a  document  fill 
ing  about  fifteen  folio  pages,  and  displays  a  strong  desire  to  secure  justice  to 
the  laborers.  By  this  code,  all  "who  shall  not  be  able  to  show  that  they 
possess  the  means  of  subsistence,  shall  be  bound  to  cultivate  the  earth. 
Such  persons  are  required  to  hire  themselves  as  farm  laborers,  but  they  are 
at  perfect  liberty  to  select  their  employer.  The  parties  enter  into  written 
contracts  for  not  less  than  three,  nor  more  than  nine  years.  The  compen 
sation  to  the  laborers  on  a  farm,  varies  according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract, 
from  one-fourth  to  one-half  of  the  whole  produce  of  the  farm.  All  disputes 
between  the  employer  and  his  people  are  settled  by  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
The  employer  can  no  more  flog  or  otherwise  punish  his  "cultivators,  than 
an  American  farmer  can  his  hired  laborers.  Not  even  for  crimes  is  corporal 
punishment  allowed  in  Hayti.  The  cultivator  has  by  law,  the  whole  of 
Saturday  and  Sunday  to  himself,  and  on  other  days  he  cannot  be  required 
to  work  after  sunset.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  him  from  accumulating 
property  by  industry  and  economy,  buying  a  farm  and  hiring  laborers  in  his 
turn. 


180  PRESENT    STATE    OF    ST.    DOMlWGOv 

gentleman,  that  the  "  design"  of  these  philanthropists  was  "to 
foment  a  servile  war  in  the  South  3r  To  convince  us  how 
unfit  negroes  are  for  freedom,  we  are  here  informed  that  thirty 
years  after  slavery  was  abolished  in  St.  Domingo,  the  govern 
ment  has  at  last  exerted  its  power  for  the  regulation  of  labor, 
to  prevent  the  island  from  going  entirely  to  ruin.  It  so  hap 
pens,  that  the  regulation  of  labor,  instead  of  being  an  expedient 
resolved  on  at  last  to  save  the  island  from  ruin,  was  coeval  with 
the  Act  of  emancipation.  On  the  28th  February,  1794, 
Etienne  Polverel,  "civil  commissary  of  the  Republic,  deleg-a- 
ted  to  the  French  Leeward  islands  in  America,  for  the  purpose 
of  re-establishing  the  public  order  and  tranquillity,"  published 
in  the  name  of  the  French  people  a  rural  code  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  liberated  slaves  in  St.  Domingo.  It  is  long,  and 
descends  to  minute  particulars — a  brief  extract  will  show  that 
it  regulated  labor. 

"  The  ordinary  dayTs  labor  is  limited  to  about  nine  hours, 
viz  :  from  sunrise  to  half-past  eight — from  half-past  nine  to 
twelve — and  from  two  to  sunset,  and  in  crop  time  it  shall  be 
extended  to  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening — The  laborers  shall 
be  bound  to  obey  the  overseers,  and  the  overseers  to  obVy  each 
other  according  to  their  rank ;  but  their  authority  shall 
be  confined  to  the  cultivation  and  good  order  of  the  plantation. 
Those  laborers,  who  in  these  points  shall  refuse  to  obey  the 
order  of  the  overseers,  shall  be  subject  to  a  month's  imprison 
ment,  with  labor  during  the  day  on  public  works,  &c.,  &c. 
This  code  continued  in  force  till  August,  1798,  when  it  was 
somewhat  modified  by  Toussaint,  and  we  have  already  seen 
on  the  authority  of  the  history  of  St.  Domingo,  that  "  the 
planters  were  obliged  to  employ  their  laborers  ©n  the  footing 
of  hired  servants,  and  the  negroes  were  required  to  labor  for 
their  livelihood."  Hence  it  appears  that  the  regulation  oi 
labor  in  St.  Domingo,  is  not  as  Mr.  Stone  seems  to  suppose,  a 
recent  exertion  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  government. 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  ruined  villas,  the  barren  plan 
tations,  the  gardens  choked  with  thorns  ?  Admitting  Mr. 
Stone's  melancholy  picture  to  be  correct,  cannot  we  explain 
it,  on  other  principles  than  such  as  would  be  fatal  to  the  free 
dom  and  happiness  of  millions?  The  zealous  editor  seems 
wholly  to  have  forgotten  the  terrible  war  which  the  Haytiens 
were  compelled  to  wage  in  defence  of  their  liberty.  In  1802, 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  ST.  DOMINGO         181 

a  French  army  landed  in  St.  Domingo,  for  the  purpose  of 
again  reducing  its  inhabitants  to  slavery,  and  a  war  ensued, 
which,  for  its  desolating  fury,  is  probably  without  a  parallel 
An  historian  of  this  war,  thus  concludes  his  account  of  it : 

"  At  length,  in  the  month  of  December,  1803,  the  island  was 
finally  abandoned,  a  mere  handful  of  the  French  troops  escaping 
the  destruction  which  had  already  overtaken  60,000  of  their 
fellows!  Thus  for  nearly  two  years,  with  a  very  brief  inter 
val,  had  a  war  raged  in  St.  Domingo,  singularly  ferocious 
and  vindictive  in  its  character,  and  directed  latterly  more  to 
extermination  than  to  conquest,  sparing  neither  sex  nor  ager 
and  sweeping  away  from  the  whole  face  of  the  plains  of  that 
beautiful  island  every  trace  of  cultivation.  So  complete  was 
the  extinction  of  all  sugar  culture  in  particular,  that  for  a 
time  not  an  ounce  of  that  article  was  procurable.  The  very 
roots  and  fruits  on  which  subsistence  depended,  were  cultivated 
only  in  mornes.  Desolation,  therefore,  could  hardly  be  con 
ceived  more  complete,  than  prevailed  in  1804  and  1805  over 
all  those  parts  of  the  colony,  which  had  formerly  been  covered 
with  plantations  ;  and  it  is  well  known  how  soon  the  rank 
vegetation  of  a  tropical  climate  converts  the  neglected  planta 
tion  into  jungle." 

And  is  it  a  proof  that  slaves  ought  never  to  be  emancipated, 
that  St.  Domingo  has  not  in  thirty  years,  after  such  wide  spread 
desolation,  become  again  in  the  hands  of  men  recently  deliver 
ed  from  bondage,  and  for  the  most  part,  poor  and  ignorant,  "  the 
garden  of  the  new  world?"  And  was,  indeed,  that  an  "  idle 
and  worthless"  population  which  successfully  resisted  the  arms 
of  England  and  of  France,  and  achieved  their  freedom  by  an 
heroic  sacrifice  of  their  lives  and  property — a  sacrifice,  which 
had  their  complexion  been  white,  would  have  been  celebrated 
by  poets  and  orators  in  every  portion  of  the  civilized  world  ? 

Let  us  now  inquire,  whether  the  present  state  of  the  island  is 
in  truth  such  as  is  alleged. 

The  Rev.  Simon  Clough,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D.,  has  lately  pub 
lished  a  pamphlet,  ("  Appeal  to  the  Citizens  of  the  United 
States")  in  which  he  undertakes  to  justify  slavery  from  the  Scrip 
tures,  and  to  prove  that  all  clergymen  who  advocate  immediate 
abolition,  are  "  false  teachers,"  and  ought  to  be  dismissed  by 
their  congregations.  Now  thfe  most  veracious  teacher,  speak- 

16 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  ST.  BOMINGO. 

ing  of  St.  Domingo,  assures  us,  (p.  16  :)  At  the  present  time* 
there  is  not  ONE  sugar,  coffee,  or  cotton  plantation  on  the  island. 
There  is  mow  exported  about  five  million  pounds  of  inferior  cof 
fee,  which  grows  wild,  and  is  picked  up  by  the  inhabitants  off 
the  ground,  where  it  falls  after  it  becomes  ripe." 

Strange  it  is,  that  this  island,  if  in  the  state  described  by 
Messrs.  Stone  and  Clough,  should  support  a  population  of 
935,000.  f  Still  more  strange  is  it,  that  when  the  whole  export 
of  coffee  w  only  about  five  million  pounds,  it  should  appear  from 
th'e  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that  the  coffee 
exported  in  1833,  from  Hayti  to  the  United  States  alone,  amount 
ed  to  eleven  million,  seven  hundred  eighty-four  thousand,  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds.  Most  passing  strange  is  it, 
that  the  imports  into  this  country,  in  the  same  year,  from  an 
island  in  which  there  is  not  ONE  sugar,  coffee,  or  cotton  plan 
tation  |  with  an  idle  and  worthless  population ;  with  its  fields 
run  to  waste,  and  its  plantations  barren  from  idleness,  should 
nevertheless  exceed  in  value  our  imports  in  the  same  period, 
rrom  either  Prussia — -Sweden  and  Norway — Denmark,  and 
the  Danish  West-Indies — Ireland  and  Scotland — Holland — 
Belgium — Dutch  East-Indies — British  West-Indies — Spain — 
Portugal — all  Italy— Turkey  and  the  Levant — or  any  one  re 
public  in  South  America  !  J 

Neither  Mr.  Stone  nor  Dr.  Clough,  profess  to  speak  from 
personal  observation.  Let  us  then  listen  to  an  eye-witness.  In 
J831,  was  published  in  a  London  periodical,  the  journal  of  a 
traveller  in  Hayti.  The  following  are  extracts  : 

"Port  au  Prince,  Island  of  Hayti,  June  25,  1830. 
"Being  aware  that  this  city  had  very  recently  suffered  greatly 
oy  fire,  I  expected  to  see  an  unsightly  waste  of  ruin  and  decay 
but  the  lots  are  rebuilt,  and  many  a  splendid  and  substantial 
edifice  surpassing  those  to  be  seen  in  the  city  of  Kingston  in 
Jamaica,  has  arisen  as  the  first  fruits  of  the  security  which 
property  enjoys,  by  the  recognized  independence  of  Hayti. 

"  I  have  made  an  excursion  or  two,  just  out  of  the  town,  to 
Ihe  little  cottage  settlements,  on  the  side  of  the  mountain  above 

*  The  pamphlet  was  published  in  New- York,  1334. 
t  Census  of  1824. 

*  See  documents  accompanying  Letter  from  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  W 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  21st  April,  1834. 


PRESENT    STATE    OF  ST.    DOMINGO. 

% 

•the  city.  I  am  told,  that  in  the  ancient  Regime — that  is  the 
phrase  here  for  the  old  state  of  things, -the  plains  were  a  source 
of  so  abundant  a  return  for  the  industry  of  the  proprietor,  that 
the  mountains  in  this  neighborhood  were  comparatively  neg 
lected,  so  that  the  '  Camp  des  Fourmis,'  the  range  of  hills  so 
called,  extending  from  Point  Lamentine  to  :the  Cul  de  Sac,  were 
heretofore  never  cultivated  as  they  are  now.  At  present  they 
are  covered  with  a  thousand  small  settlements  appr-opriated  to 
coffee,  and  provisions,  and  fruits,  and  vegetables,  in  which  the 
advantages  of  irrigation,  presented  by  the  frequent  .springs, 
bursting  from  the  mountain  ravines,  have  been  diligently  at 
tended  to,  in  the  agricultural  economy.  The  water  is  trench 
ed  over  the  sunny  surface  of  each  projecting  irregularity  of 
the  ridge;  and  height  above  height,  thecottageof  the  humble 
cultivator  is  seen,;  or  the  substantial  country-seat  of  the  Hay- 
tien  merchant,  with  its  baths,  bowers,  and  terraced  gardens 
have  been  erected. 

"  Port  au  Prince,  though  by  no  means  a  handsome  town,  is 
at  this  day,  in  style,  and  one  may  say  splendor,  far  superior  to 
what  it  was  in  the  colonial  period  of  its  history. 

"  The. frequent  calamities.to  which  it;has  been  subjected  from 
fire,  and  the  immense  and  valuable  property  lost  by  earthquakes 
in  the  years  1820  and  1822,  have  led  the  Haytiens  to  attempt 
providing  against  the  two-fold  liability,  as  they  expressed  it  of 
being  boule.verse  ,tt  incendie.  They  have  commenced  re-erect 
ing  some  of  the  houses  destroyed  by  these  conflagrations,  with 
stone  or  brick,  cased  over  wooden  frames,  at  once  to  sustain 
the  shock  of  the  earthquake,  and  to  repel  the  action  of  the  fire. 
They  cover  the  .roofs  with  tiles,  or  .slates  rather  than  shingles; 
and  erect  thei-r  stores  for  merchandise  with  fire-proof  terraces, 
and  wrought  iron  doors  and  windows..  These  buildings  have 
galleries  and  arched  colonnades,  with  heavy  cornices  and  bal 
ustrades  screening  the  roof;  and  floors  of  variegated  marble, 
and  tiles  in  the  upper  as  well  as  lower  stories.  If  continu 
ed  generally,  they  will  render  this  city  not  only  one  of  the 
most  elegant  in  the  West-Indies,  but  one  in  which  the  houses 
will  exhibit  an  interior  economy,  the  very  best  adapted  to  the 
necessities  of  the  climate.  The  decorations  are  appropriate. 
The  rich,  varied  mahogany  of  the  country  is  manufactured 
into  elegant  furniture  by  the  artizans  here;  and  the  French 
4  taste  of  gilded  mirrors,  or  Molu  clocks,  and  porcelain 


184  PRESENT    STATE    OF    ST.    DOMINGO. 

filled  with  artificial  flowers,  impart  to  the  dwellings  of  the  sim 
pie  Haytiens  an  air  of  refinement  not  unworthy  of  Europe. 

"  The  scene  presented  to  the  view  of  the  traveller,  who  quits 
the  city  of  Port  au  Prince,  to  journey  on  the  highway  to  the 
mountains,  though  a  wild  waste,  is  not  a  solitary  one.  On  the 
road  he  will  meet  a  multitude  of  cultivators  coming  to  the  city 
market,  with  horses  and  asses  loaded  with  provisions.  He  will 
see  waggons  with  produce  drawn  by  hardy  and  healthy  cattle 
If  he  departs  from  the  high-road,  and  turns  to  the  right  hand, 
through  one  of  the  woodland  paths,  he  will  find  himself  enter 
ing  into  open  grounds,  covered  with  verdant  fields  ;  he  Avill 
-see  traces  every  where  visible  of  renewed  cultivation;  mansions 
re-erected ;  aqueducts  reconducti7ig  their  streams  to  irrigate 
the  land  ;  the  sound  of  water-mills  at  work;  cottages  no  longer 
deserted,  but  tenanted  by  laborers  once  more  issuing  from  them 
to  gather  in  the  harvest  of  the  teeming  soil. 

"  The  island  of  Jamaica  does  not  exhibit  a  plantation  better 
established  than  Chateau  Blond  ;  whether  we  consider  the 
resources  of  the  land,  or  the  mechanical  economy  by  which 
those  resources  are  commanded,  it  is  a  splendid  establishment. 

"  To  me  who  have  had  an  opportunity  from  the  day  of  my 
birth,  and  long  residence  in  a  slave  colony,  of  forming  by  com 
parison  a  correct  estimate  of  this  people's  advancement,  the 
general  quiet  conduct  and  respectful  behavior  of  all  classes 
here,  publicly  and  privately,  is  a  matter  exciting  great  sur 
prise." 

All  this,  it  may  be  said,  is  anonymous  testimony.  It  is  so, 
and  yet  it  seems  entitled  to  at  least  as  much  weight  as  the  bare, 
naked  assertions  of  Messrs.  Stone  and  Clough.  We  will  now 
offer  testimony,  to  which  we  presume  no  objection  will  be  made. 
The  following  are  extracts  from  "the  report  of  the  select  com 
mittee  on  the  extinction  of  slavery  throughout  the  British 
Dominions,  with  minutes  of  evidence,  ordered  by  the  House  of 
Commons  to  be  printed,  llth  August,  1832." 

Evidence  of  Mr.  Robert  Sutherland. 
"  Are   there  many  persons   who   work  for  hire  in  Hayti  ? 
Yes — the  whole  cultivation   is  carried  on  by  free  labor.     Do 
these  persons  work  with  industry  and  vigor? 

"  I  have  no  reason  to  think  they  do  not.  The  proof  that 
free  labor  in  Hayti  answers,  is  this,  that  after  the  French  weie 


PRESENT    STATE    OF    ST.    DOMINGO.  185 

expelled,  there  was  ahsaluteli/  iio<  sugar  wor.k-rr~ihe^e  wag  no 
mill— ;the,re  was  nothing  of  that  Jdod  which  .couldi.be  put  in  use: 
it  was. destroyed  ;.,and  since  that  period,  various  plantations  have 
grown  up  in  Hayti.  Men  have  gone  to  the;  expense  of  thirty 
and  forty  thousand  dollars,  to  build  up  those  sugar  works ;  arid  it 
stands  to  reason,  that  unless  these  men  .we re  repaid  for^their 
capital,  they  would  not  continue  that  sort  of  work.  And  there 
is  another  thing  <o  be  observed — that  sugar  is  not  the  staple  com 
modity  of  Hajti ;  they  only  make  sufficient  for  their  own  con 
sumption.  Coffee  is  the  staple  commodity  of  the  island. 

"  If  a  man  can  show,  that  he  has  the  means  of  subsist 
ence  of  his  own,  is  he  compelled  to  labor  under  .the  code 
.rurale:? 

".Decidedly  not. 

"Do  you  believe  that  corporal •  punishment  is  inflicted  upon 
any  of  the  laborers  in  Hayti? 

"  1  believe  it  is  impossible.  I  have  seen  the  peasantry  in  the 
Highlands  of  -Scotland  where  I  was  brought  up,  and  I  declare 
that  ;the  negroes  in  St.  Domingo  are  comparatively  as  much 
superior  to  them  in  comfort,  as  it  is  possible  for  one  man  to  be 
over  another." 

Evidettce  of  Vice  Admiral,  <.tlie  JK&n.  -Charles  :Flemi?ig, 
member  of  Parliament. 

"Was  told  that  vagrants, and  deserters  worked  by  compul 
sion,  but  he  did  not, see  any  himself.  Had  never  heard  of  any 
working  under  the  lash.  The  lash  was  prohibited  by  law. 
The  Haytiens  q,ppeare^d  to  him  the  happiest,  best  fed,  and  most 
comfortable  negroes  he  had  ever  seen  ;  better  qfF  even  :than  in 
the  Caraccas  :  ..infinitely  better  than  in  Jamaica  ;  /there  was  no 
comparison  between  them.  He  could  not  speak  positively  of 
the  increased  the  .Haytien  population. since  1^04,  but  believed 
thad  treblcd.since  that  time.  They  now  feed  themselves,  and 
they  export  provisions,  which  neither  the , French  nor  the  Span 
iards  had  ever  done  before. 

"  He  saw  a  sugar  estate  near ,  Cape  'Haytien,  General  Bou- 
'•on's,  extremely  well  cultivated,  and  in  ...beautiful  order.  It  was 
wrought  by  blacks,  „  all  free.  A  new  plantation  was  forming 
on  the  opposite*  side  of  the  road  Their  victuals  were  very  su 
perior  to  those  in  Jamaica,  consisting  chiefly  of  meat ;  cattle 
•being  very  cljeap.  The  highest  contract  beef  in  Hayti,  was 
in  Jamaica  it  was  I2d.  He  saio  no  marks  of  destitution 
16* 


186  PRESENT    STATE    OF    St. 

!any  where.  The  country  seemed  improving,  and  trade  increas 
ing.  The  estate  he  visited  near  the  Cape  was  large ;  it  was 
calculated  to  make  300  hogsheads  of  sugar.  It  was  beautifully 
laid  out,  and  as  well  managed  as  any  estate  he  had  seen  in  the 
West  Indies.  His  official  correspondence  as  Admiral  with  the 
Haytien  government,  made  him  attribute  much  Efficiency  to  it, 
and  it  bore  strong  marks  of  civilization.  There  was  a  better  po 
lice  in  Hayti,  than  in  the  new  South  American  States  j  the 'com 
munication  was  more  rapid  ;  the  roads  much  better.  One  had 
been  cut  from  Port  au  Prince  to  Cape  Haytien,  that  would  do 
honor  to  any  country.  A  regular  post  was  established.  The 
government  is  one  quite  worthy  of  a- civilised  people.  The  negroes 
of  Hayti,  are  certainly  richer,  and  happier,  and  in  a  better  con 
dition  than  he  had  ever  seen  elsewhere,  They  were  all  work 
ing  in  the  fields  when  he  was  there.  He  rode  about  very  much. 
He  did  not  think  any  acts  of  oppression  were  practised  on  the 
people  of  Hayti  by  the  government." 

Mr.  Jeremie,  late  first  president  of  the  royal  court  of  St. 
-Lucia,  informs  us  that  in'St.  Domingo,  "is  found  a  happy, flour 
ishing,  and  contented  peasantry,  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of 
their  own  small  freeholds;  and  as  these  persons  acquire  capital, 
they  form  larger  establishments,  and  are  gradually  rising. 
This  proves,  that  the  general  wants  of  the  community  are  sup 
plied,  and,  if  well  governed,  that  community  must  soon  acquire 
Strength,  and  rise  to  importance."  Essays  onColonial  Slave 
ry,  1832,  p.  63. 

The  following  facts,  collected  from  the  new  and  valuable 
"  Dictionary  -of  Commerce  and  Commercial  Navigation,"  by  J. 
R.  McCulloch,  London  edition,  1834,  abundantly  confirm  the 
foregoing  testimonies. 

In  1786,  the  exportation  of  coffee  was  about  35,000  tons.  In 
consequence  of  .the  subsequent  devastation  of  the  island,  the  ex 
portation  for  some  years  almost  totally  ceased.;  but  it  has  now 
•risen  to  about  20,000  tons  !  p.  309. 

The  amount  of  the  following  articles,  exported  in  1832,  was 
Estimated  as  follows,  viz : 

Coffee,        „     '••  •„'•-  '  ••  y-   .  jgSi        50,000,000  Ibs. 
Cotton,  -.        ^.        ...         ..         .         1,500,000  Ibs. 

Tobacco,     .         ....       500,000  Ibs. 

Cocoa,  .  500,000  Ibs. 

'Dyewood,         :-$  :  *  i'      ..         .     5,000,000  Ibs. 


EMANCIPATION    IN   THE   FRITISH   WEST  INDIES.          18?7 

Tortoise  shell        '•&*» •-.-       .  12,000  Ibs. 

Mahogany,          ....     6,000,000  feet 
Hides,  .        ljp\     .         .         .      80,000— p.  927. 

The  quantity  of  sugar  exported  in  1832,  is  not  stated ;  but 
in  1826,  it  amounted  to  32,864  Ibs. ;  and  it  should  be  recol 
lected,  that  about  twenty  years  before,  not  an  ounce  of  that 
article  was  manufactured  on  the  island,  p.  926. 

The  imports  into  France,  in  1831,  from  Hayti,  exceeded  in 
value  the  imports  from  Sweden — Denmark,  the  Hanseatic 
Towns — Holland — Portugal — Austria — the  French  East  In 
dies — or  China,  p.  637. 

In  the  same  year,  the  importation  of  French  wines  into 
Hayti  amounted  to  108,495  gallons,, p.  11250.* 

Cotton  manufactures,  to  the  amount  <  of  6,828,576  yards, 
were  exported  from  Great  Britain  to  Hayti  in  1831,  being 
about  one-tenth  the  number  of  yards  exported  the  same  year 
to  the  United  States,  p.  446. 

Our  readers  are  now  competent  to  judge  for  themselves  how 
•  far  the  assertions  of  Mr.  Stone  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Clough,  are 
consistent  with  truth;  and  also,  what  is  "  the  practical  comt- 
:mentary"  offered  by  the  history  and  present  state  of  St.  Do 
mingo,  on  "the  mad  schemes  of  our  well  meaning  but  de- 
iluded  philanthropists." 


'CHATTER    IX. 

"EMANCIPATION    IN    THE    BRITISH    WEST   INDIES. 

THE   British  Government,  in  part  to  conciliate  the  West 
'India  proprietors,  and  in  part  through  apprehension  of  the 
ddnger  of  immediate  emancipation,    determined   to   abolish 
slavery  in  such  a  manner  as  to  Jit  the. slave  for  freedom.     In 
stead  of  breaking  his  yoke,  it  was" to  be  reduced  in  weight; 
and  six  years  were  to  be  occupied  in  filing  off  his  manacles. 
•  On  the  first   of  last  August,  the  slave  was  told  and  believed, 
mat  slavery  was  abolisJied  ;  but  on  the  morrow,  he  was -sum- 

*  The  quantity  qf  French  wine  imported  the  same  year,  into  Great  Britain 
tor  home  consumption,  was.254,366  gallons,    p-  1265. 


JSO  EMANCIPATION    IN    THE    BRITISH    WEST    INDIES. 

moned  to  his  usual  task*  and  required  to  work  as  before,  with 
out  reward.  Astonished  and  disappointed,  he.doubted  the  le 
gality  of  the  mandate,  and  hesitated  to  obey  it.  He  was  then 
informed,  that,  although  no  longer  a  slave,  he  was  never 
theless  an  apprentice,  and  must  toil  on  for  six  years  longer,  be 
fore  he  could  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  labor.  Had  emancipation 
been  nominally,  as  well  as  really,  prospective,  the  slave  would 
have  regarded  it  as  a  boon ;  but  he  did  not  readily  comprehend 
the  distinction  between  slavery  and  .apprenticeship. 

There  was,  however^a  very  important  distinction,  which  he 
soon  discovered,  and  which  did  not  promote  his  acquiescence 
in  protracted -wrong.  The  lash  -was,  -by  act  of  Parliament, 
wrested  from  the  master's  hand  ;  and  while  he  was  authorized 
to  command  his  apprentices  to  labor,  he  was  forbidden  to  pu 
nish  them  for  idleness  or  insubordination.  On  this  subject  a  Ja 
maica  paper  remarks :  "  It  is  clear,  and  there  is  no  use  in  disguis 
ing  the  fact,  that  the  apprentices  can  no  longer  be  coerced  in  the 
way  they  formerly  were ;  for  in  the  first  place,  no  magistrate 
can  legally  inflict  more  than  twenty-nine  stripes,  and,  in 
the  next,,  it  is-not  possible  to  furnish  magistrates  enough  for 
the  purpose.  The  hope,-  therefore,  of*  coercing,  is  absurd,  -and 
must, be  abandoned."  . 

The  conduct  of  the  West  India  negroes,  under  these  cir 
cumstances,  proves  how  utterly  groundless  are  the  apprehen 
sions  entertained  of  emancipation.  Disappointed  and  irritated, 
and  at  the  same  time  almost  wholly  released  from  the  control 
of  their  masters,  they  have  exhibited  a  meekness,  patience,  and 
forbearance,  utterly  without  a  parallel.  The  great  mass  of 
the  apprentices  continue  to  labor,  but  some  have  either  refused 
to  work,  or  accomplish  less  than  their  appointed  tasks.  None 
pf  the  insurrections,  murders  and  conflagrations,  which  were 
so  confidently  predicted  by  the  enemies  of  abolition,  have 
occurred.  Not  one  life  has  yet  been  taken,  not  one  dwell 
ing  fired,*  throughout  the  British  West  Indies,  by  the  eman 
cipated  slaves. 

This  forbearance  is  the  more  remarkable,  when  we  consider 
>he  numerical  superiority  of  the  negroes,  in  the  West  Indies, 
•ind  particularly  in  Jamaica,  where  there  are ,33 1,000  slaves, 
.and  only  37,000  whites. 

*  Two  sheds,  called  trash  houses,  were  lately  burned  in  Jamaica,  pto- 
.  but  not  certainly,  by  an  apprentice. 


EMANCIPATION   IN    THE    BRITISH    WEST    INDIES.         189 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  apprenticeship  experi 
ment,  Abolitionists  are  not  responsible  for  it.  It  was  adopted 
contrary  to  their  advice,  and  is  inconsistent  with  the  doctrines 
they  profess.  The  emancipation  which  they  believe  to  be 
most  consonant  with  the  will  of  God,  most  conducive  to  the 
safety  and  happiness  of  the  whites,  is  immediate  and  uncon 
ditional.  They  rejoice  that  their  doctrines  are  at  this  moment 
subjected  to  a  .severe  and  practical  test,  and  they  await  the  issue 
with  unshaken  confidence. 

'The  Legislatures  of  Bermuda  and  Antigua,  have  adopted 
the  very  course  which  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society 
recommends  to  the  slave  States.  With  the  permission  of  the 
British  government,  these  Legislatures  dispensed  with  the  ap 
prenticeship  altogether,  and  on  the  first  of  last  August,  granted 
immediate  and  unqualified  emancipation.  That  we  may  judge 
of  the  fanaticism,  the  madness,  the  wreckless  incendiarism  of 
these  Legislatures  we  must  take  into  consideration  the  number 
of  slaves  they  "  let  loose  upon  the  community,"  and  their  rela 
tive  proportion  to  the  white  population. 

In  Bermuda  there  are  5,500  whites,  4,650  slaves,  and  500 
free  blacks.  In  Antigua,  2,000  whites,  30,000  slaves,  and 
4,500  free  blacks.* 

The  Bermuda  Gazette,  of  the  4th  August,  thus  speaks  of 
the  great  change  effected  on  the  1st : 

"The  day  was  as  remarkable  for  quietude,  exemption  from 
labor,  and  solemnity,  as  that  which  marks  the  Sabbath  in  a 
Christian  land.  The  only  bustle  perceptible,  was  in  prepara 
tion  for  attending  public  worship,  which  his  Excellency,  the 
Governor,  most  wisely  ordered  to  be  performed  :  thereby  dedi 
cating  it  wholly  to  God,  the  wilier  and  doer  of  this  great  work. 
The  churches  and  other  places  of  public  worship  on  the  island, 
were  crowded  to  excess,  every  possible  accommodation  being 
afforded  to  the  colored  people.  From  every  quarter  we  hear 
of  their  orderly,  nay  more,  exemplary  behavior.  Four  days 
of  universal  freedom  have  now  passed,  and  four  days  of  more 
perfect  regularity  and  quiet  have  these  famed  peaceful  islands 
never  witnessed." 

Such  was  the  immediate  result  of  turning  loose  4,000  slaves. 
Let  us  now  attend  to  the  subsequent  testimony.  The  Hon 

•*  American  Almanac. 


190  EMANCIPATION    IN    BERMUDA, 

Mr.  Butterfield,  Chief  Justice  of  Bermuda,  in  his  charge  to 
the  grand  jury  on  the  6th  November,  referring  to  the  abolitioa 
of  slaves  in  the  island,  observed  : 

"  This  measure,  which  was  necessarily  one  of  fearful  experi 
ment,  has  not,  I  am  happy  to  say,  disappointed  the  hopes  of  the 
public,  whose  feelings  in  its  favor  were  expressed  with  a 
unanimity  as  unexampled  as,  I  am  proud  to  say,  altogether 
honorable  to  the  character  of  the  country.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  a  subject  of  congratulation,  and  certainly  of  commendation 
to  the  emancipated,  that  in  three  months  during  which  we  have 
been  able  to  mark  its  working  the  general  character  and  com 
fort  of  society  has  improved,  and  the  evils  which  some  of'  its 
best  friends  apprehended,  were  in  all  cases  overrated,  and  in 
some  have  hitherto  had  no  existence." 

But  in  Bermuda  the  whites  were  equal  to  the  blacks,  and  the 
manumitted  slaves  were  perhaps  restrained  from  outrage,  by 
the  consciousness  of  their  own  weakness;  It  seems  as  if  Pro 
vidence  had  provided  facts  to  refute  every  argument  that  can 
be  urged  against  abolition.  Let  us  now  turn  to  Antigua,  where 
the  slaves  were  to  the  whites  as  15  to  J,  and  the  free  blacks  as 
3  to  2,  and  see  how  far  in  this  overwhelming  preponderance  of 
the  colored  over  the  white  population,  immediate  emancipation 
confirmed  Dr.  Hawkes's  theory  ?  Let  the  Antigua  newspaper 
of  7th  August,  answer. 

"  The  great  doubt  is  solved— -Me  alarming  prognostications 
of  the.  advocates  of  slavery  falsified-— the  highest  hopes  of  the 
negroes'  friends  fulfilled,  and  their  pledge  honorably  redeemed. 
A  whole  people,  comprising  thirty  thousand  souls,  have  passed 
from  slavery  into  freedom,  not  only  without  the  slightest  ir 
regularity,  but  with  the  solemn  and  decorous  tranquillity  of  a 
Sabbath.  A  week  has  nearly  elapsed,  and  although  all  eyes 
and  ears  are  open,  and  reports  spread  rapidly,  we  have  not 
heard  of  a  single  act  of  insolence,  insubordination  or  violence 
committed  by  any  one  of  them,  under  false  and  licentious  no 
tions  of  freedom." 

From  the  same  paper,  of  the  14th  August :  "  It  is  with  the 
highest  satisfaction  we  announce,  that  we  know  of  and  believe 
that  there  is  no  gang  of  laborers  in  the  island,  which  has  not 
returned  to  its  accustomed  employment." 

-So  that  two  weeks  after  the  slaves  were  "  let  loose,"  instead 
•of  begging  and  stealing,  they  were  a.l'  quietly  at  work. 


EMANCIPATION    IN    ANTIGTTA.  19 

We  quote  from  the  same  paper  of  the  21st  August : 

"  The  third  week  of  freedom  will  close  with  this  day,  and 
again  we  are  bound  to  express  our  gratitude  and  praise  to  the 
Divine  goodness,  for  the  perfect  peace  and  tranquillity,  which 
the  island  enjoys.  Not  the  least  symptom  of  insubordination 
has  manifested  itself  any  where  ;  and  the  daily  accounts  from 
all  quarters  testify  to  the  excellent  disposition  and  conduct  of  the 
new  freemen. 

In  a  letter  from  Antigua,  dated  30th  August,  and  published 
in  a  Norfolk  paper,  we  find  the  following  : 

"  The  operations  of  commerce  have  experienced  no  inter 
ruption  ;  public  confidence   remains  unshaken.      Two  sugM 
plantations  have  recently  leased  for  as  much  as  they  were  worth 
with  the  negroes  included, prior  to  emancipation." 

While  the  Jamaica  papers  are  filled  with  complaints  of  the 
conduct  of  the  apprentices,  and  predictions  of  the  ruin  of  the 
island,  one  of  them  (10th  September)  says  :  "  In  Antigua,  all 
appears  to  be  peaceable  and  quiet.  Its  rulers  evinced  more  wis 
dom,  and  proved  themselves  to  be  better  tacticians,  than  those 
of  any  other  colonies,  Bermuda  excepted.  In  getting  rid  of 
the  apprenticeship  they  got  rid  of  the  source,  and  only  source  of 
heart-burning  between  them  and  their  laborers  ;  and  we  main 
tain,  as  a  free  colony,  will  soon  experience  advantages  not  to  be 
enjoyed  by  others,  so  long  at  least  as  the  humbug  continues." 

About  eight  months  have  now  elapsed  since  the  thirty  thou 
sand  slaves  of  Antigua  were  suddenly  "  let  loose,"  and,  as  yet, 
we  have  not  heard  of  a  single  outrage  committed  by  them.  It 
had  been  customary  in  mis  island,  as  an  additional  security 
against  insurrection,  to  proclaim  martial  law  at  the  Christmas 
holy-days,  during  which  times  the  slaves  had  peculiar  oppor 
tunities  for  forming  conspiracies.  The  great  act  of  justice  ac 
complished  on  the  first  of  August,  relieved  the  planters  of  all 
apprehension  of  insurrection  ;  and  not  only  was  the  usual 
proclamation  withheld  at  the  last  Christmas,  but  the  militia 
was  exempted  from  duty.  In  a  late  speech,  by  the  Speaker  of 
the  Antigua  House  of  Assembly,  he  adverted  to  the  "  universal 
tranquillity"  that  prevailed,  and  to  the  "  respectful  demeanor  of 
the  lower  classes  ;"  and  declared,  that  "  the  agricultural  and 
commercial  prosperity  of  the  colony  was  absolutely  on  the 


192  GRADUAL    EMANCIPATION 

CHAPTER    X. 

GRADDAL   AND    IMMEDIATE    EMANCIPATION. 

IF  we  have  been  successful  in  our  endeavors  to  prove,  that 
the  removal  of  slavery  by  colonization  is  both  morally  and 
physically  impossible,  then  it  necessarily  follows,  that  the  slaves 
must  be  emancipated  here,  or  that  slavery  must  be  indefinitely 
continued. 

Should  the  former  alternative  be  adopted,  the  important 
question  occurs  :  ought  the  emancipation  to  be  gradual  or 
im?nediate  ? 

If  this  question  is  to  be  determined  with  reference  to  moral 
obligation,  it  is  certainly  difficult  for  those  who  regard  slavery 
as  sinful  to  justify  its  continuance  even  for  a  limited  time.  If, 
however,  the  question  is  to  be  decided  on  the  ground  of  mere 
political  expediency,  there  are  many  and  powerful  objections 
to  gradual  emancipation  ;  and  what  may  at  first  view  appear 
paradoxical,  the  strength  of  these  objections  is  proportioned  to 
the  number  of  slaves  to-  be  emancipated. 

In  New-York,  slavery  was  for  the  most  part  gradually  abo 
lished  ;  that  is,  the  children,  born  after  a  certain  day,  became 
free,  as  they  respectively  reached  the  age  of  twenty-eight 
years  ;  and  when  the  whole  number  of  slaves  w^ere  reduced  to 
ten  thousand,  they  were  liberated  in  a  single  day.  In  New- 
York,  the  white  population  so  greatly  exceeded  the  black,  that 
no  jealousy  was  entertained  of  the  free  negroes,  and  no  incon 
venience  experienced  in  uniting  free  and  slave  labor.  But  in 
those  States,  in  which  nearly  all  the  laborers  are  slaves,  where 
every  free  black  is  regarded  as  a  nuisance  and  an  incendiary 
and  where  the  planter  would,  on  no  consideration,  permit  him 
to  labor  in  company  with  his  slaves,  much  difficulty  would 
necessarily  attend  a  gradual  relinquishment  of  slave  labor. 

Suppose,  in  South  Carolina  for  instance,  ten  thousand  slaves 
should  be  annually  manumitted  by  law.  This  would  certainly 
be  gradual  emancipation,  as  it  would  require  about  forty 
years  to  free  the  whole  number.  Now,  what  would  become  of 
these  ten  thousand  yearly  discharged  from  the  plantations? 
Would  their  late  masters  be  willing  to  hire  them,  and  turn  them 
back  into  their  cotton  fields  1  The  supposition  is  extravagant. 


GfcADUAL    EMANCIPATION.  193 

The  planter  would  dread  their  influence  on  his  remaining  slaves, 
and  these  would  certainly,  and  with  great  reason,  be  dissatisfied 
at  seeing  their  late  companions  working  for  wages,  while  they 
themselves  were  denied  any  compensation  for  their  toil.  But 
if  the  ten  thousand  liberated  slaves  were  not  employed,  how 
could  they  obtain  a  livelihood,  and  how  could  the  planters  sup- 
ply  their  place  on  the  plantations  ?  The  idea,  that  by  gradual 
emancipation,  the  slaves  will  become  fit  for  freedom,  is  visiona 
ry  in  the  extreme.  How  is  it  possible  that  the  liberation  of  a 
portion  of  the  slaves,  can  qualify  those  who  remain  in  chains, 
to  become  useful  citizens  ?  The  house  of  bondage  is  not  the 
school  in  which  men  are  to  be  trained  for  liberty. 

As  then  gradual  emancipation,  however  desirable,  if  no  other 
can  be  obtained,  is  so  full  of  difficulty,  and,  in  the  opinion  o( 
slave  holders,  so  danger  OILS  that  they  have  almost  universally 
passed  laws  to  prevent  it,  the  only  alternative  is  immediate 
emancipation  or  continued  slavery. 

It  seems  scarcely  possible,  that  any  conscientious  man,  after 
considering  the  results  of  immediate  emancipation  in  St.  Do 
mingo,  and  Guadaloupe,  in  New-York,  in  Mexico,  in  South 
America,  and  in  the  West  Indies,  should  join  in  the  popular 
clamor  against  it,  as  necessarily  leading  to  massacre  and  ra 
pine.  No  reason  can  be  assigned,  why  the  whites  would  not 
possess  the  same  physical  power  to  prevent  or  suppress  outrage 
after,  as  before  emancipation ;  but  abundant  reason  may  be 
given,  why  the  blacks,  when  restored  to  their  rights,  and  enjoy 
ing  the  protection  and  privileges  of  civil  society,  should 
be  less  disposed  to  destroy  their  benefactors  and  deliverers, 
than  they  are  when  smarting  under  cruelty  and  injustice, 
to  destroy  those  whom  they  regard  as  their  tyrants  and  op 
pressors. 

Who,  with  the  knowledge,  that  no  white  man  has  ever  been 
murdered  in  consequence  of  immediate  emancipation,  dares  to 
declare  in  the  presence  of  his  Maker,  that  self-preservation  for 
bids  the  abolition  of  slavery  ? 

But  we  are  met  with  the  inquiry,  how  are  the  owners  to  be 
compensated  for  the  loss  of  their  property?  This  same  objec 
tion  was  made  to  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade. 
British  merchants  had  invested  large  capitals  in  the  traffic,  and 
it  was  contended,  that  to  prohibit  the  trade,  was  to  violate  the 
rights  of  property.  All  governments  possess  the  right  , 


194  COMPENSATION. 

suppress  practices  injurious  to  Society,  and  to  abate  nuisan 
ces!* 

If  a  particular  manufactory  is  found  to  be  deleterious  to  the 
health  of  a  city,  it  is  not  only  the  right,  but  the  duty  of  the 
civil  authority,  to  suppress  it.  If  the  national  interests  require 
an  embargo,  the  measure  is  adopted,  although  it  virtually  wrests 
from  the  merchant  his  property,  by  depriving  him  of  the  use  of 
his  own  ships. 

The  State  of  New-York  abolished  slavery,  without  compen 
sating  the  slave  holders.  The  same  has  been  done  in  Mexico, 
and  in  various  instances  in  South  America,  and  the  compensa 
tion  given  by  Parliament  to  the  West  India  proprietors,  proba 
bly  arose  from  the  consideration,  that  the  legislators  who  enact 
ed  the  Abolition  law,  were  not  themselves  personally  affected 
by  it;  and  in  order,  therefore,  to  avoid  the  reproach  of  in 
dulging  their  benevolence  at  the  expense  of  others,  granted 
a  pecuniary  compensation  to  the  owners  of  the  emancipated 
slaves. 

To  contend  that  the  slaves  in  the  Southern  States,  ought 
not  to  be  emancipated  by  law,  except  on  the  payment  to  their 
masters,  of  their  market  value,  is  to  contend  that  slavery  ought 
to  be  perpetual.  Such  a  payment  is  MORALLY  IMPOSSIBLE.  By 
whom  can  it -be  made  ?  The  Federal  Government  have  nei 
ther  the  will  nor  the  constitutional  power  to  make  it.  But  ad 
mitting  it  possessed  both,  the  appropriation  of  the  national 
funds  to  this  purpose,  would  not  be  such  a  payment,  because  a 
very  large  proportion  of  those  funds  would  be  drawn  from  the 
slave  holders  themselves  ;  and  it  would  be  an  insulting  mock 
ery,  to  offer  to  pay  them  with  their  own  money.  To  suppose 
that  the  free  States,  would  be  willing  from  motives  of  disin 
terested  benevolence,  to  make  a  present  to  their  neighbors  of  a 
THOUSAND  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS!  is  obviously  absurd :  nor 
is  it  less  absurd  to  insist  that  this  sum  ought  to  be  paid  to  the 
masters,  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  slave  states ;  since  the 
pockets  of  the  masters,  are  the  only  sources  whence  those  Le 
gislatures  could  obtain  the  money. 

*  "How  little  to  be  respected,"  exclaimed  Lord  Mulgrave,  late  governor 
of  Jamaica,  "is  that  rigid  regard  for  the  rights  of  property,  which  says  a 
man  shall  do  what  he  likes  with  his  own,  when  his  own  is  his  fellow- 
man." 

1  Estimating  the  slaves  at  an  average  value  of  $400,  the  amount  would 
now  nearly  equal  this  sum5  and  in  a  few  years,  far  exceed  it. 


COMPENSATION.  195 

So  far  as  the  whole  amount  of  wealth  in  the  community 
is  concerned,  it  would  be  enhanced,  not  diminished  by  eman 
cipation.  This  may  seem  a  strange  assertion  to  follow  the 
estimate  we  have  just  made  of  the  market  value  of  the  slave 
population.  But  what  is  the  price  paid  for  a  slave?  Nothing 
more  than  the  amount  of  his  wages  for  life,  paid  in  advance  , 
paid  it  is  true  to  another,  but  still  paid  as  an  equivalent  for  la 
bor  to  be  performed,  and  to  be  refunded  with  interest  out  of  tha* 
labor.  Now  it  is  obvious  that  it  is  the  product  of  this  labor, 
which  can  alone  add  any  thing  to  the  aggregate  wealth  ;  and 
that  no  diminution  of  that  wealth  can  be  caused,  by  paying  for 
the  labor  as  it  is  performed,  monthly,  or  yearly,  instead  of  pay 
ing  for  the  whole  of  it  in  advance. 

This  argument,  it  may  be  said,  applies  only  to  the  purchase 
and  sale  of  slaves;  but  that  where  a  planter  is  already  in  pos 
session  of  them,  he  would  certainly  lose  a  part  of  his  profits, 
by  being  compelled  to  pay  him  wages,  and  this  loss  would  be 
so  much  deducted  by  emancipation  from  the  general  stock. 
The  fallacy  of  this  opinion  may  be  perceived  by  recollecting 
that  it  can  in  no  degree  affect  the  national  wealth,  whether  the 
horse  with  which  a  farmer  tills  his  corn-field,  was  reared  by 
himself,  or  purchased  from  his  neighbor.  It  is  the  corn  pro 
duced,  and  not  the  money  paid  for  the  animal  by  one  man 
and  received  by  another,  that  augments  the  riches  of  the 
country. 

If  the  slaves  are  worth  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars,  it  is 
evidence  that  their  labor  must  be  worth  much  more;  because,  to 
their  price  is  to  be  added  the  cost  of  their  maintenance,  and  the 
whole  is  to  be  reimbursed  with  profit  out  of  their  labor.  Now 
Colonization,  would  utterly  annihilate  all  this  labor ;  it  calls 
upon  the  South  to  surrender  a  commodity  worth  more  than  a 
thousand  millions;  and  upon  this  surrender,  which  would 
convert  the  whole  slave  region  into  a  wilderness,  it  rests  all 
its  hopes  of  the  ultimate  abolition  of  slavery ! ! 

Emancipation  on  the  contrary,  instead  of  removing  millions 
of  laborers,  would  stimulate  their  industry,  improve  their  mo 
rals,  quicken  their  intelligence,  and  convert  a  dangerous,  idle, 
and  vicious  population  into  wholesome  citizens.  Were  all  the 
slaves  in  South  Carolina  emancipated  to-morrow,  every  branch 
of  industry  would  derive  new  energy,  and  every  species  of 
property,  an  increased  value  from  the  additional  security 


196  CONSEQUENCES  OF  EMANCIPATION. 

which  such  a  measure  would  give  to  society.  All  dread  of 
insurrection  would  vanish,  and  one  half  of  the  population,  who 
are  now  regarded  as  implacable  foes,  would  be  converted  into 
useful  friends. 

But  it  is  objected,  that  the  emancipated  blacks  will  form  a 
bad  population.  One  would  think,  from  this  objection,  that 
the  slaves  now  form  a  good  population,  and  that  they  are  to  be 
rendered  ignorant  and  immoral  by  freedom.  Unquestionably, 
the  liberated  slaves,  like  all  other  vicious  and  degraded  people, 
will,  while  such,  form  a  bad  population  ;  but  if  they  are  such 
while  in  bondage,  and  must  ever  remain  such  until  liberated, 
then  emancipation  is  the  only  process  by  which  a  bad,  can  be 
converted  into  a  good  population.  As  soon  as  they  are  free, 
they  will  be  accessible  to  education  and  religious  instruction, 
and  all  those  various  motives  which  operate  as  a  wholesome 
restraint  on  the  evil  passions  of  our  nature.  It  would  be  most 
unjust  to  estimate  the  future  character  of  the  emancipated 
slaves,  supposing  slavery  to  be  immediately  abolished,  by  the 
present  character  of  the  free  negroes.  These  last,  in  the  slave 
States,  are  a  hated  and  persecuted  race.  They  are  kept  not 
only  in  ignorance,  but  in  idleness.  The  planters  will  not  em 
ploy  them,  for  fear  they  will  contaminate  the  slaves  ;  and 
the  whole  legislation  of  the  Southern  States,  towards  this  peo 
ple,  is  to  degrade  and  brutify  them.  But  these  wicked  efforts 
are  the  results  of  slavery,  and  would  cease  with  it.  Were  slave 
ry  abolished,  then  it  would  be  the  obvious  interest  of  the  South 
to  improve  the  black  population,  and  the  causes  which  neces 
sarily  render  the  free  blacks  vicious,  would  no  longer  operate. 
The  same  remark  applies,  although  with  less  force,  to  the  free 
blacks  of  the  North.  Colonization  and  slavery  have  both  had 
their  influence  in  keeping  alive,  and  aggravating  the  pre 
judices  against  color,  and  these  prejudices  have  led  to  that 
system  of  persecution  and  oppression  to  which  the  free  blacks 
here  are  subjected. 

And  now  what  injury  or  loss  would  the  planter  sustain,  by 
the  emancipation  of  his  slaves?  As  a  trader  in  human  flesh, 
nis  vocation  would,  indeed,  be  gone,  but  as  the  cultivator  of  the 
soil,  his  profits  would  be  undiminished.  The  number  of  laborers 
would  be  as  great  as  before ;  and  they  would  still  be  depend 
ent  on  labor  for  their  support.  They  now  cost  their  owner 
their  food  and  clothing,  and  their  maintenance  in  sickness,  in 


MODES   OF   EMANCIPATION.  197 

youth,  and  in  old  age ;  the  expense  also  of  the  idle  and  worth 
less,  is  as  great  as  that  of  the  good.  Their  cost  as  free  laborers 
would  be  but  little  more  than  at  present,  while  their  characters 
would  be  improved,  and  the  employer  could  select  such  laborers 
as  his  occasions  required.  The  laborers,  finding  their  wages, 
and  of  course  their  comforts  depending  on  their  good  con 
duct,  would  be  prompted  to  industry  and  sobriety ;  and  having 
nothing  to  gain  by  insurrection,  and  feeling  no  injuries  to 
avenge,  all  malignant  designs  against  their  employers  would 
be  laid  aside,  and  they  would  soon  make  such  advances  in 
intelligence  and  morality,  as  would  contribute  no  loss  to 
the  good  order  and  peace  of  society,  than  to  their  own  hap 
piness. 

Abolitionists  are  constantly  called  on  for  a  plan  of  emanci 
pation.  They  have  little  encouragement  to  respond  to  the  call. 
If  they  propose  the  simple  plan  of  proclaiming  by  act  of  the 
State  Legislatures,  the  immediate  and  unqualified  abolition  of 
slavery,  they  are  denounced  as  reckless  incendiaries.  If  they 
intimate,  that  abolition  does  not  necessarily  inhibit  all  compulso 
ry  labor,  and  point  to  the  rural  code  of  St.  Domingo  and  the 
apprentice  system  of  the  West  Indies,  they  are  reproached 
with  wishing  to  substitute  one  kind  of  slavery  for  another. 
But,  in  truth,  they  are  under  no  obligation  of  duty  or  policy  to 
propose  any  specific  plan.  No  Temperance  Society  has  felt 
itself  bound  because  it  pronounced  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  to 
be  sinful,  to  furnish  venders  with  plans  for  employing  their  capi 
tals  in  other  occupations. 

The  details  of  emancipation,  and  the  various  legal  provisions 
proper  to  render  it  safe  and  convenient,  are  not  prescribed  by 
the  great  principles  of  justice  and  religion,  but.  by  considera 
tions  of  local  policy.  It  is  not  probable,  that  if  all  the  Southern 
Legislatures  were  sincerely  anxious  to  abolish  slavery,  any  two 
of  them  would  do  it  in  precisely  the  same  manner,  and  under 
the  same  regulations.  We  have  seen  one  plan  pursued  in  St. 
Domingo,  another  in  Bermuda  and  Antigua,  a  third  in  tho 
other  British  West-Indies,  and  still  different  plans  in  South 
America. 

Of  all  these  plans,  that  adopted  in  Mexico,  Bermuda  and 
Antigua,  of  immediate,  total  and  unqualified  emancipation,  will, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  be  found  in  all  cases  the  most  safe 
and  expedient. 

17* 


198  MODES   OF    EMANCIPATION* 


Trm  rlaii  removes  from  the  slave  all  cause  for  discontent* 
He  is  ft«e,  and  his  own  master,  and  he  can  ask  for  no  more* 
Yet  he  is,  in  fact,  for  a  time,  absolutely  dependent  on  his  late 
owner.  He  can  look  to  no  other  person  for  food  to  eat,  clothes 
to  put  on,  or  house  to  shelter  him.  His  first  wish  therefore  is, 
to  remain  where  he  is,  and  he  receives  as  a  favor,  permission 
to  labor  in  the  service  of  him  whom  the  day  before  he  regard 
ed  as  his  oppressor.  Bat  labor  is  no  longer  the  badge  of  his 
servitude,  and  the  consummation  of  his  misery:  it  is  the  evi 
dence  of  his  liberty,  for  it  is  voluntary.  For  the  first  time  in 
his  life,  he  is  a  party  to  a  contract.  He  negotiates  with  his 
late  master,  and  returns  to  the  scene  of  his  former  toil,  and  the 
scene  of  his  stripes  and  his  tears,  with  a  joyful  heart,  to  labor 
for  HIMSELF.  The  wages  he  has  agreed  to  accept,  will,  in 
fact,  be  little  more  than  the  value  of  his  maintenance  ;  for  it 
is  not  to  be  expected,  that  in  a  treaty  with  his  employer,  his 
diplomacy  will  gain  for  him  any  signal  advantages  ;  but  still 
there  will  be  a  charm  in  the  very  name  of  wages  which  will  make 
the  pittance  he  receives,  appear  a  treasure  in  his  eyes.  Thus 
will  the  transition  from  slave  to  free  labor  be  effected  instan 
taneously,  and  with  scarcely  any  perceptible  interruption  of 
the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life.  In  the  course  of  time,  the  value 
of  negro  labor,  like  all  other  vendible  commodities,  will  be 
regulated  by  the  supply  and  demand  :  and  justice  be  done  both 
to  the  planter  and  his  laborers.  The  very  consciousness,  more 
over,  that  justice  is  done  to  both  parties,  will  remove  their 
mutual  suspicions  and  animosities,  and  substitute  in  their  place 
feelings  of  kindness  and  confidence.  No  white  man  in  Anti 
gua,  surrounded  as  he  is  by  blacks,  now  dreams  of  insurrec- 
tion,  or  fears  the  midnight  assassin.  Can  as  much  be  said  of 
our  Southern  planters  ? 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  we  beg  leave  to  address  the  fol 
lowing  questions  to  the  reader,  and  we  beseech  him  seriously 
to  inquire,  what  duties  are  prompted  by  the  answers  which  his 
conscience  and  understanding  may  compel  him  to  return. 

Do  you  believe  it  to  be  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
the  welfare  of  our  country,  that  slavery  should  be  perpetual1? 

Is  it  either  possible  or  probable,  that  slavery  can  or  will  be 
removed  by  colonization  ? 


DANGER   OF  SLAVERY.  199 

If  slavery  be  not  abolished  by  law,  is  it  not  probable,  that  it 
will,  in  time,  be  terminated  by  violence  ? 

Do  the  precepts  of  Christianity,  and  the  lessons  of  history, 
recommend  gradual  in  preference  to  immediate  emancipation? 


CHAPTER  XL 

DANGER  OF  CONTINUED  SLAVERY* 

WHILE  slave  holders  and  Colonizationists  delight  to  expatiate 
On  the  danger  of  immediate  emancipation,  and  to  represent  its 
advocates  as  reckless  incendiaries,  ready  to  deluge  the  country 
in  blood,  they  seem  scarcely  conscious  that  any  danger  is  to 
be  apprehended  from  slavery  itself.  Yet  the  whole  history  of 
slavery  is  a  history  of  the  struggles  of  the  oppressed  to  recover 
their  liberty.  The  Romans  had  their  servile  wars,  in  one  of 
which  forty  thousand  slaves  were  embodied  in  arms — Italy  ra 
vaged,  and  Rome  herself  menanced. 

A  European  writer  remarks  :  "  The  formidable  rebellion  of 
the  Jamaica  slaves,  in  1762,  is  well  known ;  and  in  almost  every 
island  in  the  Archipelago,  have  repeated  insurrections  broken 
out ;  sometimes  the  result  of  plans  laid  with  the  utmost  secrecy, 
and  very  widely  extended,  always  accompanied  by  the  horrors 
of  African  warfare." 

The  destruction  of  property  in  Jamaica,  in  the  insurrection 
of  1832,  was  estimated  by  the  Legislature  at  £1,154,583.  Any 
commotion  of  the  emancipated  slaves,  that  should  cost  the  island 
one-hundredth  part  of  this  sum,  would  be  hailed  both  there  and 
here,  as  demonstrative  of  the  folly  and  hazard  of  emancipation. 

And  have  we  not  in  our  own  country,  had  melancholy,  heart 
rending  proofs  of  the  danger  of  slavery  1 

In  1712,  and  1741,  negro  insurrections  occurred  in  New- 
York,  and  we  may  judge  of  the  alarm  they  excited,  by  tho 
shocking  means  used  to  prevent  their  recurrence.  Of  the  lead 
ers  of  the  last  insurrection,  thirteen  were  burned  alive,  eighteen 
hung,  and  eighty  transported.  In  the  single  State  of  South  - 
Carolina,  there  have  been  no  less  than  seven  insurrections 
designed  or  executed.  In  1711,  the  House  of  Assembly  com 
plained  of  certain  fugitive  slaves,  who  "  keep  out  armed,  an& 


200  DANGER   OF   SLAVERY* 

robbing  and  plundering  houses  and  plantations,  and  putting  the 
inhabitants  of  this  province  in  great  fear  and  terror."  In  1730, 
an  open  rebellion  occurred,  in  which  the  negroes  were  actually 
armed  and  embodied.  In  1739,  there  were  no  less  than  three 
rebellions,  as  appears  from  a  petition  from  the  Council  and  As 
sembly  to  the  king,  in  which  they  complain  of  an  "insurrection 
of  our  slaves,  in  which  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  murder 
ed  in  a  barbarous  and  cruel  manner  ;  and  that  was  no  sooner 
quelled,  than  another  projected  in  Charleston,  and  a  third  lately 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  settlements,  but  happily  discovered  time 
enough  to  be  prevented."  In  1816,  there  was  a  conspiracy  of 
the  slaves  in  Camden  and  its  vicinity,  "  the  professed  design  of 
which  was  to  murder  all  the  whites  and  free  themselves"  The 
conspiracy  in  Charleston  in  1822,  and  the  sacrifice  of  human 
life  to  which  it  led,  are  well  known.  But  in  no  instance,  has 
the  clangor  of  slavery  been  so  vividly  illustrated,  as  in  the  tra 
gedy  of  Southampton, 

A  fanatic  slave  conceived,  from  some  supposed  signs  in  the 
heavens,  or  peculiarity  in  the  weather,  that  he  was  called  by 
God  to  destroy  the  whites.  He  communicated  his  commission 
to  five  other  slaves,  who  engaged  to  aid  him  in  executing  it. 

The  conspirators  agreed  to  meet  at  a  certain  place,  on  the 
night  of  the  21st  August,  1831.  They  assembled  at.  the  ap 
pointed  hour,  and  the  leader,  Nat  Turner,  beheld  with  surprise 
a  sixth  man,  who  had  not  been  invited  by  him  to  join  the  enter 
prise,  but  who  had  learned  from  another  source,  the  cause  of  the 
meeting;  and  on  inquiring  for  what  purpose  he  had  come,  receiv 
ed  the  remarkable  answer  :  "  My  life  is  worth  no  more  than  that 
of  others,  and  my  liberty  as  dear  to  me."  With  these  six  associ 
ates,  Turner  commenced  the  work  of  destruction.  By  sunrise, 
the  number  of  murderers  was  swelled  to  fourteen,  and  by  ten 
o'clock  the  same  morning,  to  forty ! 

From  the  testimony  given  on  the  trial  of  Turner,  and  which 
has  been  published,  it  appears,  that  there  was  no  previous  con 
cert,  except  between  Turner  and  his  six  original  associates, 
and  that  no  white  or  free  colored  man  was  privy  to  their  design 

The  dates  we  have  given  of  the  various  insurrections,  prove 
conclusively,  that  they  were  in  no  degree  connected  with  dis 
cussions  respecting  Abolition  ;  and  at  the  time  of  the  Southamp 
ton  massacre,  there  was  no  Anti-Slavery  Society  in  the  United 
States  advocating  immediate  emancipation. 


DANGER   OF   SLAVERY.  201 

Abolitionists  have  been  often  charged  with  a  desire  to  foment 
insurrections  ;  but  the  charge  is  wholly  gratuitous,  and  no  proof 
whatever  of  such  sublimated  wickedness  has  ever  been  addu 
ced  against  them.  On  the  contrary,  their  characters,  profes 
sions  and  conduct  repel  the  calumny.  The  whole  history  of 
Abolition  shows,  that  its  only  tendency  is  to  insure  peace  and 
safety. 

We  have  brought  facts  to  establish  the  danger  of  slavery ; 
let  us  now  attend  to  the  confessions  of  slave  holders  to  the  same 
point.  A  South  Carolina  writer,  while  urging  the  necessity  of 
a  stricter  police  over  the  slaves,  thus  describes  them: 

"  Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  our  negroes  are  truly  the 
Jacobins  of  the  country ;  that  they  are  the  anarchists,  and  the 
domestic  enemy;  THE  COMMON  ENEMY  OF  CIVILIZED  SOCIETY, 

AND  THE  BARBARIANS  WHO  WOULD  IF  THEY  COULD,  BECOME 
THE  DESTROYERS  OF  OUR  RACE."* 

The  Southern  Religious  Telegraph  says  : 

"  Hatred  to  the  whites,  with  the  exception  in  some  cases  of 
attachment  to  the  person  and  family  of  the  master,  is  nearly 
universal  among  the  black  population.  We  have  then  a  FOE 
cherished  in  our  very  bosoms — a  foe  WILLING  TO  DRAW  OUR 
LIFE-BLOOD,  whenever  the  opportunity  is  offered,  and,  in  the 
mean  time,  intent  on  doing  us  all  the  mischief  in  his  power." 

Now,  be  it  recollected,  that  these  "  destroyers  of  our  race," 
these  foes,  willing  "  to  draw  the  life-blood"  of  the  whites,  are 
rapidly  advancing  to  an  immense  numerical  majority.  And 
on  what  grounds  do  the  whites  rest  their  hope  of  security 
from  these  Jacobins,  and  anarchists — on  equal  laws,  the  diffu 
sion  of  education,  and  the  influence  of  religion  ?  Let  Governor 
Ilaynes  of  South  Carolina,  answer  the  question. 

"  A  STATE    OF    MILITARY  PREPARATION,    must  always  be  With 

us  a  state  of  perfect  domestic  security.  A  profound  peace,  and 
consequent  apathy,  may  expose  us  to  the  danger  of  domestic 
insurrection." — Message  to  the  Legislature,  1833. 

Thus,  profound  peace,  which  is  a  blessing  to  all  other  people, 
will  be  a  curse  to  the  slave  holders,  and  they  are  to  hold  all 
-,hat  is  dear  to  them  by  the  tenure  of  military  preparation  ! 

Is  it,  we  ask,  possible,  for  any  nation  to  have  a  worse  popu 
lation  than  that  described  in  the  preceding  extracts,  or  to  be 

*  A  refutation  of  the  calumnies  inculcated  against  the  Southern  and 
Western  States.— Charleston,  1622, 


202  DAGGER    OF    SLAVERY. 

doomed  to  a  more  deplorable  fate,  than  that  of  perpetual  mui 
tary  preparation  ? 

We  have  now  seen,  what  are  the  religious  and  political  prin 
ciples,  and  what  are  the  historical  facts  which  lead  the  Ameri 
can  Anti-Slavery  Society  to  recommend  immediate  emancipa 
tion  to  their  Southern  brethren. 

But  it  is  demanded,  with  an  air  of  supercilious  triumph, 
what  have  Northern  men  to  do  with  slavery,  and  what  right 
have  they  to  interfere  with  the  domestic  institutions  of  tlio 
South?  And  is  this  question  addressed  to  the  followers  of  HIM 
who  commanded  his  disciples  to  "go  into  all  the  world,  and  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ?"  As  well  might  it  be 
asked  of  the  Christians  of  America,  what  they  have  to  do  with 
the  religion  of  Brahma, — what  right  they  have  to  interfere  to 
rescue  the  widow  from  the  burning  pile,  or  the  devotee  from  the 
wheels  of  Juggernaut  1  Christians  are  no  less  bound  by  the 
injunction  to  "  do  good  unto  all  men,"  to  endeavor,  by  lawful 
means,  to  break  the  fetters  of  the  slave,  than  to  deliver  the  vic 
tim  of  Pagan  superstition.  The  obligation  is  imperative,  and 
they  who  duly  respect  its  authority,  will  not  be  deterred  by  vio 
lence  or  denunciation  from  obeying  its  monitions.  The  same 
moral  sense  which  has  led  Abolitionists  to  oppose  slavery,  will, 
we  trust,  forever  lead  them  to  repudiate  in  their  practice  the 
detestable  doctrine,  that  the  end  sanctifies  the  means.  The 
means  they  employ,  except  in  relation  to  slavery  under  the  au 
thority  of  Congress,  are  wholly  confined  to  arguments  address 
ed  to  the  conscience  and  understanding  :  and  intended  only  to 
excite  the  voluntary  action  of  the  masters.  With  them,  and 
with  them  alone,  rests  the  power  of  deciding  on  the  course  they 
will  pursue.  But  let  them  ponder  well  the  consequences 
to  themselves  and  their  posterity,  of  their  momentous  decision. 

By  rejecting  Abolition,  they  reject  all  the  rich  and  varied 
blessings  in  morals,  in  security,  in  political  power  and  wealth, 
which  it  offers  to  their  acceptance.  And  what  do  they  retain 
— the  licentiousness,  cruelty,  and  injustice  ;  the  depression  of 
enterprise,  the  wasting  of  strength,  the  fearful  forebodings,  the 
hourly  jeopardy,  the  frowns  of  public  opinion,  and  the  re 
proaches  of  conscience,  which  are  and  must  be  the  inseparable 
attendants  on  slavery.  Before  they  refuse  to  retreat  from  the 
volcano  on  which  they  are  standing,  let  them  look  into  the  ter 
rific  crater  which  yawns  beneath  them. 


CONSEQUENCES    OF    CONTINUED    SLAVERY.  203 

If  slavery  is  to  be  perpetual,  it  will  be  well  to  estimate,  not 
only  the  number  of  slaves  with  which  our  Southern  country  is 
to  be  peopled,  but  also  the  ratio  they  are  to  bear  to  their  mas 
ters.  It  must  be  recollected,  that  all  those  moral  checks  on  po 
pulation  which  arise  from  religion,  the  refinements  of  civilized 
life,  and  the  difficulty  of  sustaining  a  family  are  wanting  to  the 
slave.  Hence  there  is  always  a  tendency  to  a  far  more  rapid 
multiplication  in  a  slave  than  a  free  population.  Certain  cir 
cumstances  may  indeed  check  this  tendency,  but  experience 
proves,  that  in  this  country,  they  exist  to  a  very  slight  extent,  if 
at  all.  Our  slaves  are  increasing  in  a  constantly  accelerated 
ratio.  In  the  ten  years,  from  1840  to  1850,  judging  from  the 
result  of  the  last  census,  the  increase  will  be  1,049,275,  a  num 
ber  greater  than  all  the  slaves  just  liberated  in  the  West  Indies  ! 
The  next  ten  years,  a  still  greater  number  will  be  added,  and  so 
on  indefinitely.  In  the  mean  time,  new  and  powerful  checks  will 
be  operating  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  white  population. 
The  evils  attendant  on  slavery,  will  offer  strong  inducements  to 
the  young  and  indigent  to  forsake  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and 
to  seek  a  safer  home,  and  a  wider  field  for  enterprise.  Virginia 
affords  a  striking  illustration  of  this  remark.  The  domestic 
slave  trade  annually  relieves  that  State  of  more  than  six  thou 
sand  slaves,  and  yet,  notwithstanding  this  drain,  they  continue  to 
increase. 

In  1830,  the  colored  population  in  the  counties  east  of  the 
Blue-ridge,  exceeded  the  white  by  81,078,  whereas,  forty  years 
before,  in  the  same  counties,  the  whites  had  a  majority  of 
25,098 ! 

The  number  of  slaves  must  at  length  reach  the  point  of 
profitable  employment,  after  which,  each  additional  one  becomes 
an  ihcumbrance.  Soon  after  this  point  is  reached,  the  traffic  in 
s.'aves  must  cease,  and  the  owners  will  be  unable  to  dispose  of 
their  superfluous  hands.  The  consequence  will  be,  the  gradual  im 
poverishment  of  the  proprietors.  As  the  slaves  increase  in  num 
ber,  and  diminish  in  value,  their  masters  will  gradually  become 
less  interested  in  their  welfare,  and  more  apprehensive  of  their 
physical  strength.  Fear  is  a  cruel  passion,  and  especially  as  it 
silences  the  remonstrances  of  conscience,  by  the  plea  of  self- 
preservation.  As  the  danger  becomes  more  pressing,  the  pre 
cautions  of  the  master  will  become  more  and  more  rigorous : 
every  slave  being  regarded  and  treated  as  an  enemy,  will,  in  fact, 


204  PUBLIC    OPINION. 

become  one :  and  every  increase  of  cruelty,  will  but  hasten  the 
final  catastrophe. 

In  the  mean  time,  slavery  will  have  ceased  in  every  other 
part  of  the  civilized  world.  In  Brazil,  it  will  probably  receive 
its  death-blow,  in  the  first  popular  revolution.  In  the  Danish 
Islands,  it  will  expire  in  two  years ;  and  in  the  French  and 
Spanish  colonies,  it  cannot  long  survive.*  And  when  this 
loathsome  leprosy  shall  alone  cling  to  the  republicans  of  our 
Southern  and  Western  States,  in  what  light  will  they,  must 
they,  be  regarded  by  the  rest  of  the  human  race  ?  This  is  an 
age,  in  which  public  opinion  has  snatched  the  sceptre  from  kings 
and  senates,  and  reigns  an  imperious  and  absolute  despot.  She 
may,  indeed,  be  influenced  but  not  resisted.  She  called  for  the 
abolition  of  the  African  slave  trade,  and  the  traffickers  in  human 
flesh,  for  centuries  encouraged  and  protected  by  law,  became  a 
proscribed  race.  She  is  now  calling  for  the  freedom  of  the  slave, 
and  his  shackles  are  falling  from  him.  Emancipation  will  soon 
become  the  common  cause  of  Christendom,  as  the  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade  was  a  few  years  since. 

In  1822,  the  House  of  Representatives  requested  the  President 
to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the  several  maritime  powers, 
for  the  effectual  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  and  its  ul 
timate  denunciation  as  piracy;  and  negotiations  were  ac 
cordingly  opened  on  this  subject  with  Great  Britain,  Spain, 
Portugal,  Russia,  France,  Netherlands,  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
Colombia. 

In  1821,  Portugal  persisting  in  the  traffic,  the  British  House 
of  Commons  called  upon  the  king,  to  endeavor,  by  negotiation, 
to  prevail  on  the  powers  of  Europe  to  exclude  fro m  their  ports 
the  produce  of  the  Portugese  Colonies.  Portugal  yielded,  and 
the  trade  has  been  renounced  by  every  Christian  nation  in 
Europe  and  America.  And  may  not  the  same,  or  similar  means, 
be  adopted  by  other  nations  to  put  an  end  to  American  slavery  ? 
It  is  by  no  means  improbable,  that  before  many  years  elapse,  f 

*  The  voluntary  manumissions  in  the  French  Colonies  from  1st  Janua 
ry,  1831,  to  1st  June,  1833,  were  21,962.  Since  the  late  Abolition  Act  of  Great 
Britain,  an  Anti- Slavery  Society  has  been  organized  in  Paris,  with  the  Due 
de  Broglie  at  its  head-  It  is  said  to  have  "  derived  its  existence  in  the  very 
bosom  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 

t  A  statement  has  recently  been  laid  before  the  British  Parliament,  of  the 
amount  of  such  produce  of  American  slave  labor  imported  into  Great  Britain 
4s  enters  into  competition  with  the  productions  of  the  West-Indies. 


PUBLIC    OPINION.  205 

laws  will  be  passed,  and  treaties  made,  for  excluding  the  pro 
ducts  of  slave  labor  from  Europe. 

So  long  ago  as  18U6,  Mr.  Windham,  in  the  House  of  Com* 
mons,  "  did  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  when  the  proper  time  arri 
ved,  arid  the  consent  of  other  powers  could  be  obtained  for  its 
abolition,  slavery  ought  not  to  be  suffered  to  exist  among  the 
institutions  of  any  civilized  State." 

The  emperor  of  Austria  has  issued  a  decree,  declaring — 
"  Every  man,  by  the  right  of  nature,  sanctioned  by  reason, 
must  be  considered  a  free  person.  Every  slave  becomes  free 
from  the  moment  he  touches  the  Austrian  soil,  or  an  Austrian 
ship." 

The  Edinburgh  Review  insists,  that  "the  existence  of 
slavery  in  America,  is  an  atrocious  crime,  with  which  no 
means  can  be  kept." 

Mr.  Buckingham,  member  of  Parliament,  lately  asserted  at 
a  public  meeting : 

"  The  greater  proportion  of  the  people  of  England,  demand 
not  merely  emancipation,  but  the  immediate  emancipation  of 
the  slaves,  in  whatever  quarter  of  the  world  they  may  lie 
jOand."1'' 

Daniel  O'Connell,  shortly  before  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  British  dominions,  declared  in  public  : 

"  The  West-Indies  will  be  obliged  to  grant  emancipation, 
and  then  we  will  turn  to  America,  and  to  every  part  of  Europe, 
and  require  emancipation" 

A  Society  has  just  been  formed  in  England,  entitled,  "  the 
British  and  Foreign  Society  for  the  universal  abolition  of  negro 
slavery  and  the  slave  trade." 

Our  pride  may  revolt  at  the  idea  of  foreign  interference,  but 
it  will  be  the  interference  not  of  force,  but  of  public  opinion, 
against  which  our  fleets  and  armies  will  be  of  no  avail. 

We  cannot  compel  other  countries  to  buy  our  cotton  and 
sugar;  or  to  admit  our  citizens  from  the  South,  when  they 
visit  Europe,  to  the  usual  courtesies  of  social  intercourse. 
"When  an  American  comes  into  society,"  said  Daniel  O'Con 
nell,  in  a  numerous  assembly,  "  he  will  be  asked,  '  Are  you  one 
of  the  thieves,  or  are  you  an  honest  man?  If  you  are  an  honest 
man,  then  you  have  given  liberty  to  your  slaves;  if  you  are 
among  the  thieves,  the  sooner  you  take  the  outside  of  the 
house  the  better.'  " 


206  CONCLUSION. 

The  very  coarseness  of  this  invective  in  the  mouth  of  the 
great  Agitator,  indicates  the  temper  of  the  British  population 
on  this  subject ;  a  temper  which,  fostered  as  it  is  by  the  progress 
of  liberal  principles,  will,  in  time,  become  the  temper  of  all 
Europe  ;  and,  indeed,  of  all  the  world.  While  the  slave  holders 
are  suffering,  without  sympathy  and  without  redress,  from  the 
harassing  influence  of  this  temper,  their  slaves  will  be  multi 
plying  with  a  fearful  rapidity,  and  becoming  each  day  more 
conscious  of  their  own  strength ;  and  unless  their  fetters  are 
loosened,  they  will  inevitably  be  BURST. 

Our  Southern  brethren  are  the  masters  of  their  own  destiny  . 
may  a  gracious  God  lead  them  to  know  the  things  which  belong 
.o  their  peace,  before  they  be  forever  hidden  from  their  eyes. 


THE   END. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


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